Posted by By Soni Daniel, Port Harcourt on
Alarmed by the recklessness exhibited by commercial motor cyclists in the state, the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Command.....
Alarmed by the recklessness exhibited by commercial motor cyclists in the state, the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Command , Mr. Sam Adetuyi, has recommended the establishment of mobile courts to try erring cyclists.
Adetuyi, who is the chairman of the state branch of the Joint Action Committee raised by the Federal Government to check the menace of cyclists, stated in a report made available to our correspondent on Monday that ignorance was the bane of the cyclists.
In the report forwarded to the Rivers State Governor, Dr. Peter Odili, the CP pointed out that although the riders were indispensable, it was necessary for measures to be put in place to educate them on the proper method of operation.
According to the report, the mobile courts to be headed by magistrates and assisted by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps and Civil Defence Corps, should take care of Port Harcourt and such other cities as Ahaoda, Omoku and Bori.
The commissioner also recommended that the use of helmets by cyclists should be made compulsory just as the sale of the facilities should be decentralised to make it possible for many of the cyclists to acquire.
Adetuyi stated that all cyclists should be made to undergo a mandatory test to determine their fitness before being licensed to operate.
Besides, the commissioner wants all cyclists to be registered by the Board of Internal Revenue and adequate registration of number plates and drivers licences made available to them for easy identification.
The police boss noted that even though the cyclists were ignorant of the rules of operation, the major problem lay on unguided behaviours of the riders.
The Rivers State Government had last year restricted the operations of commercial cyclists in the state capital to between 6am and 7pm daily, noting that motor cycles carried out most robberies and violent acts in the capital.