File photo
TheCable reports that the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says
driving with the aid of Google map is not an offence — contrary to a
widely reported statement credited to one of its officers.
But it said deploying the app while driving is dangerous.
Bisi Kazeem, spokesman of the corps, said this in a statement issued on
Thursday while reacting to a report by NAN which quoted Ayuba Gora, FRSC
sector commander for the FCT, as saying the use of Google map while driving is outlawed.He said though driving with the aid of Google map is not prohibited,
deploying the app while a vehicle is in motion could cause accidents.
He said many road traffic accidents are a result of distraction caused by the use of mobile phones while driving.
“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,” he said.
“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.
“We say this because, available records have shown that use of phone for
whatever purpose; be it text, voice calls, chats, browsing, setting
google map to find location etc 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.
“On the strength of this, the Federal Road Safety Corps wishes to
reiterate its position on use of phone while driving as a dangerous and
hazardous road traffic behaviour which has led to unwanted and avoidable
road crashes.
“We therefore call 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.”