Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, has cautioned motorists who intend to use google map on their phone while driving to activate such before setting the vehicle in motion to ensure 100 percent concentration and avoid road crashes.
The Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi gave the warning in a press statement signed by the Public Education Officer
FRSC, Corps Commander Bisi Kazeem and made available to the Next Edition on Thursday.
He was reacting to an online publication where the Sector Commander, Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Corps Commander Wobin Gora was quoted out of context on the use of google map app while driving, during the 2019 ‘Ember Months’ flag off held in Lugbe, FCT on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the writer quoted the FCT Sector Commander as stating that driving with the aid of Google map using mobile phone is a serious traffic offence.
The Corps Public Education Officer however stated that the Sector Commander must have been misquoted and his statement outrightly misrepresented because the Federal Road Safety Corps as a technology driven organisation is not and has never stood against the use of google map by motorists.
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“To state the obvious, we have always enlightened the public on the position of the law on use of phone while driving which the Sector Commander tried to emphasize during the flag off.
“The statement he made during the flag off buttresses the position of the Corps, which is that any driver who intends to deploy the use of Google map while driving must have it set on the phone before embarking on the journey, not while the vehicle is already in motion as this could be dangerous to the driver and other road users, and can lead to road traffic crash.”
He said available records have shown that use of phone for whatever purpose; be it text, voice calls, chats, browsing, setting google map to find location among other, while driving could be distractive and can easily lead to loss of concentration.
“This has led to many road traffic crashes with attendant loss of lives and properties.
He reiterated the position of the Corps that use of phone while driving is a dangerous and hazardous road traffic behaviour which has led to unwanted and avoidable road crashes.
The FRSC therefore, called on all motorists who intend to deploy the use of google map on their phone especially during the festive season when traffic density is high, to activate such before setting the vehicle in motion so as to ensure 100 percent concentration on the wheels.
