Excessive speed, bust tyre and sudden application of break were responsible for the auto crash that claimed the lives of the Minister of State for Labour, James Ocholi, wife and son, Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, ha said.
FRSC Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, disclosed this when he presented the interim report on the auto crash to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said Ocholi’s driver, Taiwo James Eleghede, has no record of valid driver’s license in the drivers’ data base, while Ocholi and his son, who did not use the seat belts, were forcibly ejected, when the affected vehicle somersaulted.
His words, “The ejection of the minister and his son, who occupied rear seats confirmed the fact that their rear seat belts were not in use and on the contrary the driver and the orderly survived because the front seat belts were used.
“There was no record on the drivers’ license National Data Base of the driver of the Hon. Minister with the name, Taiwo James Eleghede.
“However, there was record found on the driver’s license National Data Base of the driver of the Hon. Minister’s back-up vehicle with the name Ibrahim Abubakar.
“Information gathered revealed that the driver of the crashed vehicle was actually moving at excess of the stipulated speed when he had a tyre bust.
“The weather and vehicle mechanical conditions did not contribute to the break-crash factors that led to the occurrence of this crash.
“Although there exists a pothole at the crash vicinity, its existence and the road recondition were not contributory factors. Though it lacks speed limit informative signs and speed surveillance cameras to caution and deter speeding motorists.
“The crashed vehicle driver was driving too fast and he slammed on the break so hard.
“These two factors materially contributed to the inability of the driver to maintain control when the left rear tyre bust.’’
Oyeyemi said the tyres of the crashed vehicle were not properly fixed and no proper alignment, adding that 10 persons were involved in the crash with three people killed, five sustained various degrees of injury and the remaining two persons escaped the crash unhurt.
The crash occurred at kilometre 34, on the Kaduna-Abuja expressway, near Rijana village, on Sunday.
