Rabat – The Ministry of Transport plans to install 550 new speed cameras in Moroccan cities in an attempt to reduce the number of car accidents.
On the National Day of Road Security on February 18, a representative of the ministry, Noureddine Dib, stated that Morocco has had 140 speed cameras in operation since 2010, and the ministry plans to install an additional 550 radars.
The ministry believes the new radars will reduce the volume of both car accidents and traffic violations.
Once installed, the speed cameras will not only capture speeding, but also driving the wrong way down one-way streets, overtaking in lanes where it is forbidden, and failure to stop at red lights.
Previously, reports emerged that the ministry planned to adopt new “intelligent” radars that would have a 20-kilometer-long view, enabling them to record cars that do not stop at stop signs and defective brake lights.
The ministry will also repair several radars that are out of operation.
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In 2018, the General Directorate of National Surveillance (DGSN) recorded 66,343 road accidents, resulting in 964 deaths, 3,748 serious injuries, and 84,048 minor injuries.
DGSN registered over 1.8 million traffic offenses and began infringement proceedings on 573,557 vehicles.
The number of traffic accidents increased by 7.5 percent in comparison to 2017, when 61,686 accidents were recorded.
The number of deaths and injuries also increased in comparison to those recorded in 2017.
