The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has warned that Nigerians should not use mobile telephones in any form while driving, including whether or not their devices carry hands-free kits.
“It is an offence to use mobile telephones in any form” while driving, FRSC spokesperson Bisi Kazeem told a Premium Times reporter after being pulled over by road safety marshals on Wednesday in Abuja.
The reporter had reached out to Mr Kazeem to clarify whether the rule existed or the officers were being overzealous.
Although the matter was resolved without a booking for traffic offence, traffic officers warned that there would soon be a nationwide clampdown on persons driving with earphones or other hands-free devices.
The road safety has enforced its policy against a direct use of mobile telephones by drivers for several years, but most drivers switched to hands-free as the most convenient way to circumvent the offence, and traffic officers hardly pull drivers with earphones.
“We have not started enforcing it, but it is an offence to drive with earpiece because it is dangerous not only for the driver but other road users,” a road safety chief was reported to have said in addition to Kazeem’s message.
Expert studies around the use of hands-free by Nigerian drivers remain scanty, but social scientists in foreign institutions have concluded that the option was not safe, and some found it could be dangerous as being twice above alcohol limit.
On texting, studies conducted by foreign institutions have also shown that drivers on mobile telephones reduce their visual scanning of the road ahead or slower to respond to hazards, and recently developed apps that supposedly aid texting behind the wheel offer little protection to drivers.
