Safer driving in Morocco?
Posted all over Rabat last week were campaign signs featuring internationally-known Moroccan actor Said Taghmaoui (left) calling for safer driving in Morocco. A television ad shows Taghmaoui with a young girl - he pins a bright yellow button on her jacket (I didn't get a chance to read the text but Hamza tells me it has to do with driving safely and respecting children) and sends her off to school. The campaign signs stated that February 18th was a national day for driving safely. Despite obvious jokes - "You mean you only have to drive safely in Morocco one day out of the year?" - the campaign is much needed in a country with an alarming death toll from motor vehicle accidents.
An article published today by Maghreb Arab Presse states that "Morocco has decided to set up a system of e-logbook and e-driving license as off this coming June part of an aggressive nationwide campaign to boost road safety and reduce forgery cases and corruption."
Excellent! I can't think of a trip where Hamza wasn't pulled over for something stupid, then pardoned but asked to pay the police officer "a little something" in exchange for not officially reporting him to the police. Although Hamza won't stand for it and never gives what Moroccans call (incorrectly) "corruption," I've found that he's a rare case. Most of my other friends who drive on a regular basis say that not only have they paid a police officer in exchange for not being reported, but that they don't see the problem in doing so.
And as for the Moroccan driver's licenses, well, a pink tri-fold, roughly laminated piece of paper with handwritten information and a stapled-on photograph leaves quite a bit of room for improvement. Considering that Morocco plans to be the first country to biometricize their national identity cards, you'd think that they could do something to improve the technology of driver's licenses.
An excellent initiative, though I don't believe this is the first attempt at such a thing. Hopefully, this time they'll follow through.
Comments: 4
One of the priority of the government isfighting against "the road war", but untill now there is no efficient and serious srategy. A study need to take place to reveal the major reasons and remedy this phenomenon.
everyone musttake His/her resposability. In the last few years,its stated that drivers behaviour is the major reason, but , here the government is trying to minimize its responsability for :
-buliding newroads, mainting and repairing them.Most of the secondary and regional roads in my regions are very tight althoughthey were paved recently.There are no sign roads , not painted and even broken in rural area by teenagers.Some of the roads go back to french occupation era.
We Should all accept the failure of the Government to build new roads that show us more of the country (for example one linking the east to the Sahara is needed) but, that's another issue.
-Shifting and going backwards are not enough to qualify a driver.When I trained to get my Driver license, I never drove in a winding road or up hill one, did not know how untill I visited Sidi Ifni:)
even the new computer based test (theorical exam) did not get to its objectives.The license system of exam must modernize.
-The sensibilization about the danger of this phenomenon should target children; road rules must be included in school programms:If we take a look on the primary school programms we will find only one unit in the 6th grade (1upon 12 units which is good) and one lesson of 30 minutes in civil education talking about the road dangers, and explaining some road signs to students.Is that enough for that war we 're fighting against? Children are future drivers, road victims , In fact they are all the future.
A war need coordination between every body, thus drivers should change their behaviours as well and take all of that seriously, does anyone owns a magic potien to change drivers attitude?!!
But so far, I think local Moroccans drive better than the young moroccan immigrants.For justice,We should deal equally with both of them no matter who's more beneficient to the
country.Bicycles and Moto-cycles must be included on the road rules.In my city, No one wear a moto-cycle helmet , and some people do not attach their set-belt on the town.Its all about a compaign of days when a police-officer must fill in considerable fines .And later, life goes back like it is .An arabic proberb say: Aadat halima ila aadatiha lkadima, Translated to: Halima went back to its old habit.
I am not here defending driver's behaviour.The driver attitude is a result of an interfering and complicating elements of his/her formation.
Some other reasons I can think of are briefly:
Excess of Speed- Vehicule shape- The lack of respect of driving code.
We hope the future will be good. the real solution is not one day compaign but start educating Children. A change never come from the top!
You know, driver training in the U.S. isn't (or, wasn't anyway) great either - when I got my license, my state (New Hampshire) allowed private schools to administer the driving exam. The schools were required to teach 20 hours of a class to students, the teacher was required to spend 15 hours driving with the student, and the parent of the student was required to spend 15 other hours driving with the student. At the end of all that, the school would administer the exam, and then submit the results to the state - if they were positive, the student would be granted the license that day. My teacher didn't even bother to mark my written exam!
But get this - that's only for students from 16-18. If you're 18 years old, in New Hampshire - and this is still true - all you have to do is show up and take a written and driving exam - IN A PARKING LOT! Taking a class is not required!
And yet I've never seen drivers there as terrible as those here, so I suppose that the component of respecting the law is just stronger back home. People respect driving laws because there are very serious consequences. Police officers (at least in New Hampshire!) can't accept "corruption," and no one would ever try to give it. If you're caught speeding, you pay a fine of about $150 US, if you're caught a second time, you lose your license for 30 days, effective immediately.
So you're right, it's a combination of sorts.
I thought that when you get your license in th US , you have to have someone holding a license to accompany you? and later take a second optional exam? is that the cas in other states , probably? or as you said a parent is required to drive with a student for 15 hours and that's only if you took the exam between 16 and 18?
You brought up a good point: Police officer and the corruption.
Considering many road rules has changed in Morocco like priority, the concept of small roads in a big road( sghira f lkbira) and that some police officers hold an old driver license, there should be permanent formation training class for police officers.One police officer who is supposed to organize the circulation for long time in taroudannt, just took with me the exam some years ago. So, how on earth a police officer is organizing the circulation withouth holding a driver license , its same as teaching with no knowledge.Few weeks ago , in my way back from Marrakech to Agadir, I arrived in Chichaoua, there was a crossroads and a logically a yield sign which tell that in the next crossroads I do not have priority, It does not require a full stop and to slow down which I did , there was a car on the left side of the crossroads and I did wait untill it passes and I enter to the intersection to take my way to Agadir, then I was surpised the police man asking me to stop, I show him my papers when I asked , and said in his Mrakshi accent: " Do you know why I stopped you?" I answered:" I do not have any idea" , He said " you must pay a fine of 400dhs if you do not know then, you did perturbate the circulation" I glanced to him and say" Me?!!" , He said "yes, and if you can telle why? I can make the fine lesser" , I said well: "there is a rondpoint, and in my sides and other small roads there is a yield road sign,which is at about 100 m from the rond point, I drove and waited before the intersection the other car on my left in the "rond-point" and I entred to take my way to Agadir" he said "good, i'm going to make the fine 100 dhs to you in case, but what did you miss?" he added : " to fully stop on the yield sign" I said : I do not have to stop in the yield sign and its not a stop sign" its about 100 m from the real intersection and i would never cross waiting there" , He asked me "what I do?" I said :"teacher ", he then said " a teacher and you are having a car?! look at me , i have spent all my life and never had a car, he started fill in papers for my fine " he wrote a fine of not attaching the set belt , which is not true to make it 100dhs. Exauhsted from the long drive of Tizin'test and not wanting to be in troubles and delay from work I paid the 100 dhs and got a receipt
this is my story of the yield sign.for more info on that sign:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yield_sign
That yield story is crazy! My husband was stopped last week for treating a stop sign like a yield sign, and the police officer also wanted 400dh. He always finds a way out of paying it :)