The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Kano State on Friday in Kano warned parents against allowing under age children to drive vehicles.
The FRSC Sector Commander, Mr Mohammed Garba, gave the warning while addressing newsmen.
‘’Parents should stop allowing underage children to drive so as to reduce the rate of accidents being recorded as a result of this ugly trend.”
He said the command would continue to ensure strict compliance with the order as any underage child caught driving vehicles would be arrested and affected parents would be made to pay N10,000 fine.
“When such children are caught, the parents are normally compelled to write an undertaking not to allow their children to drive again.
‘’Before now children graduating from secondary schools are allowed to drive cars in the metropolis in the name of ‘Candy Celebration’.
‘’We have to declare a war against it and we have succeeded in stopping it completely as you hardly now see underage driver in the city,’’ he said.
He said the major challenge now facing the command was the issue of children riding bicycle in the chaotic traffic situation in the metropolis.
Garba said the command had commenced public enlightenment campaign to sensitise parents to the dangers of allowing children to ride bicycles along the major road in the city.
‘’Since the ban on motorcycles many parents bought bicycles for their children and with the chaotic traffic situation in the city, it is causing a lot of accidents,’’ he said.
“We have started visiting schools to educate the children on the need to ride the bicycles carefully
“We also conducted series of radio programmes in which we urge parents to tell their children to always ride carefully while on the road’’, he added.
(NAN)