FRSC to carry out psychiatric tests on ‘people who use phones while driving’

As from July 1, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) will start conducting psychiatric tests for traffic law offenders in the country.

Boboye Oyeyemi, the corps marshal, made this known on Monday at the opening of a five-day training programme for FRSC officials on traffic safety for non-motorised transportation in Abuja.

Oyeyemi said the FRSC was empowered by its enabling Act to carry out the proposed psychiatric examination.

A statement was released to this effect by Bisi Kazeem, the FRSC corps public education officer.

“We are worried about the continuous use of phone while driving, traffic light violations, route violations and dangerous driving,” the statement quoted Oyeyemi as saying.

“We have invited the commanding officers for a strategic session on Friday. We will give them full directives to resume the referral of all these classes of offenders to various government hospitals for check of their mental state.

“I think it is an act of irresponsibility for somebody to be driving and be using phone or for a traffic light to stop you and you are jumping the line.

“It means something is wrong with your mental faculty. So, there is a need to examine this, to really check whether you are fit to drive, whether you have the mental capability to drive or not.

“The offender will bear the cost. When they confirm that he is fit, then he will go for retraining programme and pay the fine.”

“Fine is not the issue; the issue is we need a positive attitudinal change by Nigerians. We cannot continue to be having fatal crashes due to traffic light violations, people jumping the traffic lights, I think it is crass irresponsibility.”