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Rabat – Morocco’s Head of Government, Saad Eddine El Othmani, on Monday said that the country is planning several measures that will reduce the number of traffic fatalities by 50 percent by 2026.
El Othmani echoed earlier statements made by the State Secretary for Transport, Mohammed Najib Boulif, who said road safety improvements are a priority for the government. Last week, the transport secretary revealed that the number of people killed on roads in Morocco decreased by 2.62 percent in 2017.
The head of government said that the 2017-2026 national road safety strategy seeks to reduce the number of road fatalities by 25 percent by 2021 and by another 20 percent by 2026.
To fulfill these expectations, El Othmani believes that, “these measures must be direct and part of education,” adding that the government is giving great importance to the road safety project and is committed to fully implementing a strategy that includes road surveillance, fines for violations and educational outreach.
February 18 marked National Road Safety Day in Morocco. As reported by Maghreb Arab Press (MAP), El Othmani acknowledged the commemoration of this day in gratitude to all those who are contributing to the significant progress made as part of the 2017-2026 national road safety strategy, including administrators, regional officials, police and transportation experts.
The head of government added that the success of the road safety project is not just the responsibility of employees at the Transport and Equipment Ministry. Progress also depends on the participation of the National Committee for the Prevention of Traffic Accidents as well as with pedestrians who need to pay proper attention to road traffic.
Boulif said last week that the number of fatalities in 2017 due to road accidents in urban areas was 943. This figure represents a 4.17 percent year-on-year decrease. Another 2,550 people were killed in rural areas, a 2 percent decrease from 2016.
In 2017, 89,998 total traffic accidents were reported, representing a 10 percent increase compared to 2016. However, the number of road accidents with fatalities last year was 3,085, representing a 2.4 percent decline from 2016.
Boulif added that 9,175 people were critically injured due to road accidents in 2017, representing a 1.51 percent year-on-year increase. The number of light injuries recorded during the same year reached 119,138.
