Morocco Launches New National Road Control Plan

Rabat – Morocco’s National Road Safety Agency (NARSA) organized on Monday 17 a special press conference for the presentation of the 2022-2024 national road control plan which is part of the 2017-2026 national road safety strategy, the agency reported in a press release.

The 2022-2024 national road control plan resulted from the agency’s analysis of traffic accidents, their causes, and geographic distribution. It seeks to identify priority monitoring areas (areas with a high rate of traffic accidents) and provide advanced and efficient monitoring equipment, the statement said.

Additionally, the agency set five priority monitoring issues including excessive speed, driving under influence, using a phone while driving, and not using a seat belt or helmet, it added.

NARSA also announced the official launch of the fixed radar operation. The agency aims to obtain more than 550 new generation radars. Currently, NARSA has 140 new generation radars operating across Morocco.

In its press release, the agency reported that the new radars can monitor violations of the legal speed limit, red light, and other types of traffic violations. They can simultaneously monitor up to 24 vehicles while recording the average speed of vehicles, distinguishing between light and heavy vehicles, and reporting the vehicle number plates.

The agency announced the outsourcing of offenses recorded by fixed radars to Albarid Bank and Barid Cash agencies.

“The process falls within the framework of completing workshops on the modernization of the agency’s service sector [and] improving the quality of proximity services provided to users and respecting legal deadlines,” the statement said.

In 2018, Morocco’s Government announced the creation of the National Road Safety Agency (NARSA), which started operating in January 2020. Through its 2017-2026 national road safety strategy, the agency plans to decrease road fatalities across Morocco by 50% between 2015 and 2026, OECD reported.

Annually, Morocco records an average of 3,600 fatalities and 150,000 injuries on national roads, as well as more than MAD 20 billion ($2.16 billion) in road accident-related material losses, the agency reported.

To address the issue of road fatalities, a group of private sector companies operating in Morocco launched a coalition in December 2021 under the coordination of the International Road Federation (IRF). The coalition included the National Motorway Company of Morocco (ADM), TotalEnergies Marketing Maroc, La Voie Express, SOTRAGAZ, and Sahara Logistic Nord (SLN).

In the signing ceremony of the Coalition Charter, NARSA’s Director-General Benacer Boulaajoul commented, “This initiative is perfectly aligned with NARSA’s goal of working with economic operators to ensure road safety is considered at all levels of management. You can count on our unwavering support for its positive outcome and development.”