Morocco faces increasing road safety crisis

Road safety levels continue to deteriorate in Morocco, despite a series of policies introduced by the government and a tougher process of enforcement. The country has a human population of 32 million, along with 2.7 million registered vehicles and last year saw 15,000 people severely injured in road accidents, leaving them with long term disabilities.
August 8, 2012 Read time: 1 min
Road safety levels continue to deteriorate in Morocco, despite a series of policies introduced by the government and a tougher process of enforcement. The country has a human population of 32 million, along with 2.7 million registered vehicles and last year saw 15,000 people severely injured in road accidents, leaving them with long term disabilities. The Moroccan Government has been working on improving road safety but the growing vehicle population is providing a severe test, with casualties continuing to climb. The country introduced its new highway code in 2010, as part of the 10-year road safety plan that commenced in 2004. The aim of the 2004 road safety policy was to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries by 5%/year. The fatal accident rate has risen 50% since 1996 when there were 2,807 road deaths. The probability of getting killed in a road accident has risen from 5.77% in 2010 to 6.29% in 2011. With 1,508 deaths in 2011, cars are in first place in terms of user category. This is followed by pedestrians (1,141), motorbikes (923) and trucks (255).

Related Content

  • Concerns have been expressed in Austria by a highway firm over proposals to allow larger trucks
    March 22, 2012
    Concern has been expressed in Austria over the potential costs of upgrading the country’s road network to cope with 60tonne trucks measuring up to 25.5m long. The introduction of these massive ‘gigaliners’ has been proposed across the EC. But Austrian highway operator Asfinag has said that upgrading the country’s roads, highways, bridges and tunnels to make them suitable for gigaliners would cost some €5.4 billion. Asfinag has also expressed its concern over the safety issues surrounding these vehicles due
    Read More
  • New Zealand's safety gain
    April 30, 2012
    New Zealand’s road safety levels continue to improve according to the latest official traffic statistics. Since the 1st of January 2011, there have been 241 road deaths in New Zealand, a notable drop from the 311 recorded in 2010. The figures come from the NZ Transport Agency, which also points out that there were 332 road deaths in 2009, 346 in 2007 and 299 in 2008. Although road fatality levels have dropped, the police national road policing manager is still wary as the holiday period is nearing and there
    Read More
  • Danger increased on Australia’s roads
    August 22, 2023
    Danger has increased on Australia’s roads
    Read More
  • Concrete highway linking Mexico with US
    March 17, 2016
    A new concrete surface has been constructed along the busy Monterrey-Nuevo Laredo highway in Mexico. This route is of prime importance both for Mexico and its neighbour, the US, as it is the main export-import route between the two countries. Located in northeast Mexico, the Monterrey-Nuevo Laredo highway connects Mexico with the state of Texas in the United States. The route carries 52% of Mexico’s imports and exports and is crucial to the country’s economy, as well as for that of the US. CEMEX Mexic
    Read More

Highlighted Content