Morocco launches emergency road safety plan

20/02/2008

With 200 drivers injured daily on Moroccan roads, the government has introduced a new safety plan. The revised Highway Code includes stiffer penalties on offenders, greater protection for pedestrians and improvements to road signs.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 20/02/08

[Getty Images] Moroccans look on at the site of crash between a truck and bus carrying tourists near Benguerir. An average of 10 people die and 200 are seriously injured every day on Moroccan roads.

In a bid to improve safety on Morocco's roadways, the government has drawn up a new 1 billion-dirham emergency road safety plan for 2008-2010.

Adopted on Monday (February 18th) in Rabat, the plan is aimed at reducing the current increase in road accidents initially and then ultimately reversing the trend. An average of 10 people die and 200 are seriously injured every day on Morocco’s roads.

Azzedine Chraibi, Permanent Secretary of the National Committee for the Prevention of Road Traffic Accidents, said the road safety campaign is aimed primarily at tackling non-compliance with the country’s Highway Code.

The government has stressed the importance of implementing the draft code, an effective legal framework which officials say will guarantee the legality of all measures taken with regard to road safety. One of the main features of the code is an attempt to tackle repeat offences by expanding the use of spot fines and agreed fines which are generally collected immediately – a practice most drivers oppose. "There’s already corruption as it is. If they increase fines, it'll get out of hand," said teacher Samid Berrahou.

The plan also includes a number of other measures, including some aimed at saving the lives of people in vulnerable categories, such as pedestrians and drivers of two-wheeled vehicles. Some relate to roadside amenities, such as the introduction of new vertical and horizontal road signs in towns. Local authorities have also been asked to make road safety central to their strategies, while a new government handbook has been published to standardise road sign design.

Road checks are to be tightened up, with enhanced monitoring to ensure their credibility and transparency, while resources and equipment for checks will also be boosted. The government has also decided to set up a committee headed by the Ministry of the Interior to implement a general emergency telephone service and devise rapid emergency response programmes to cut down call-out times and make emergency assistance more efficient.

The new three-year plan follows an earlier attempt in 2003 which the government credits with establishing a programme to monitor roads with high incidences of accidents and improving the road network and urban highway maintenance. It was also aimed at making road signage more consistent, tackling accident blackspots, building cycle lanes and revamping the road network.

The country’s fleet of rescue vehicles and ambulances also received a boost, with 166 new vehicles. Eleven new emergency medical centres have been opened and 15 rescue centres have also been built.

The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure is optimistic about the plan, saying that the first phase has already slowed down the rise in accidents. Before its introduction, the number of people involved in road accidents had been increasing by nearly 4.5% per year. This level has since dropped. "If the plan had not been implemented," said Minister of Transport Karim Ghellab, "statistical projections show the number of people killed would have been 4,490 instead of the actual figure of 3,750."