Morocco Savvy

Morocco’s roads killed more people in 2006 than the year before - but at least the numbers aren’t growing as fast as they used to.

Exactly 3,622 people died on Moroccan roads in 2006. That’s 4.1 percent more than the year before.

In a desperate search for some - any - good news in the road safety statistics, the ministry of Transport focuses on that last number. 

That 4.1 percent is down from the average increase in the death rate of 4.7 percent that Morocco recorded annually before 2004, the year the government introduced the Integrated Strategic Emergency Plan for road safety.

The increase in the number of deaths on the road is slowing. Government spin à la marocaine.

Le Matin, usually a bit of a mouthpiece for the Moroccan government, likens the numbers to “a civil war”.

Here goes:

• 56,426 road accidents with injuries (+ 5.2 percent)
• 3,622 people killed (+4.1 percent)
• 12,060 people seriously injured (+2.1 percent)
• 71,129 more people injured less seriously (+8.2 percent) 

That’s almost 10.9 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. Surprisingly, when you look at that same “Population Death Rate“ for other countries, Morocco isn’t the outright league winner we’d expected it to be.

The chance of dying on the road in Morocco is roughly the same, statistically speaking, as in Spain, Austria, New Zealand and Luxemburg.

Countries with a higher death rate on the roads include Greece (19.3 per 100,000 inhabitants), Poland (15.0) and the United States - where 14.5 people per 100,000 inhabitants were killed on the roads in 2004.

It’s official: Morocco’s roads are safer than those in the US. That’s one popular myth that we’ve managed to debunk so far.

But be careful nonetheless. Especially on the roads around Marrakech, Agadir, Khouribga, Safi and El Jadida. In the statistics, these regions recorded the highest numbers of deaths on the road in 2006.

And be particularly prudent when driving somewhere around Fes. That’s where the increase in deaths caused by car accident exploded last year: 169 victims, up a staggering 47 percent from 2005.

• Time for a tough new road law

The government sends a new road law to parliament, proposing a points system for driver’s licenses and steep new fines.

Under the proposed scheme, new drivers will get a temporary driver’s license for two years. If they collect 12 points within that period, they lose the license and will be barred from applying for a new one for two years.

Once you get through the trial period, you can get a license for 5 years and worry that you could lose it once you accumulate 24 points. The license-for-life will be axed under the new law.

The number of punitive points that could cost you your license is based on the severity of a traffic violation. You can lose up to 6 points in one go, when you burn a red light, for example. Drunk driving and other serious violations mean that you will lose your license immediately. And pay a fine, of course.

The fines in the new law are twice as high as in the existing rules. They range from 700 dirham for “excessive use of a car horn” to 30,000 dirham for driving under the influence. That’s US$ 3,500, close to a working class annual income in Morocco.

Those traffic fines are already making waves among parliamentarians. They believe that the steep new sanctions will only encourage corruption.

Besides, some members of parliament argue, the government should not just be tough on drivers, but also work to increase road safety itself. They will ask the government to improve road conditions and traffic signs.

The law also proposes regular inspections of mechanical shops, finally acknowledging that despite the incredible ingenuity of the average car mechanic, many accidents on Moroccan roads are caused by the terrible state that a lot of cars are in.

Finally, driving schools will also be met with more scrutiny.

It all makes sense. But as newspaper Le Matin reports in its article about the new law, the discussion in parliament will be “tempestuous”.

• Here’s the concise Moroccan road survival guide from the Morocco FAQ