A driver of an overloaded truck was on Wednesday convicted by a mobile court in Awka, and handed a six month jail sentence.
The court presided over by a Chief Magistrate, however gave the sentence with an option of fine.
The vehicle was impounded on Tuesday near the Awmabia flyover, along the Awka-Onitsha expressway by men of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC.
The Anambra FRSC Sector Commander, Adeoye Irelewuyi made the disclosure to our correspondent in a chat in his office at the FRSC headquarters, Awka today.
According to the Sector commander, the driver was arraigned immediately before the court upon apprehension.
“The overloaded vehicle was impounded at our head office here in Awka and incidentally, the mobile court was sitting same day.
“So, he was arraigned immediately in court and the chief magistrate presiding over the court handed him a six-month jail term with an option of fine,” he revealed.
Irelewuyi, who warned that overloading was a very dangerous road practice that had led to severe fatalities on the roads, advised motorists to desist from such anomaly.
“Overloading is a practice that can increase the probability of fatality in a crash because when an overloaded vehicle crashes, the driver and the passengers may not have the chance of escaping from the crash, as the goods may fall on them and even cause more deaths than the crash itself.
”So, we appeal to road users to desist from overloading their vehicles either with goods or passengers,”he said.
The Anambra FRSC boss maintained that the command under his watch would continue its operations to arrest road users and drivers who violated road rules in this regard.
He also assured that mobile court operations would be intensified to ensure prompt prosecution of offenders, to serve as deterrent to others.
“All these we are doing to drive down to the barest minimum, the rate of road traffic crashes in the state.
We are soliciting for is the support and cooperation of the general public to make our roads safer and more peaceful, ”he added.
