It was widely reported yesterday that Ayuba Gora, the Abuja Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), had said that using Google Map while driving is a serious traffic offence.
Mr Gora said this at the launch of the 2019 Ember Months Campaign by Lugbe Unit Command of the FRSC in Abuja on Wednesday. According to him, the law forbids motorists from using mobile phones in any form while driving, as it can lead to an accident.
This comment by Ayuba Gora generated tons of reactions on social media as many users tweeted their displeasure about tagging the use of Google Map while driving an offence.
However, Bisi Kazeem FSI Corps Commander Public Education Officer FRSC has now released a statement saying that Gora was quoted out of context.
The statement reads in part: The Corps wishes to state 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 a motorist.
“To state the obvious, we have always enlightened the public on the position of the law on the 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.
“We say this because, available records have shown that use of phones 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 the 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 per cent concentration on the wheels.”
