Improving Road Safety
in the OIC Member States
121
implementation and it was clear that significant progress was made by implementing actions
and measures across all focus areas. For example, it is evident that the coordination and
management structure proposed by the plan has been adopted and is currently functioning. Also
changes were introduced to vehicle and driver testing and extensive communication and
education campaigns were launched.
The third plan PSIU III, covering the period 2011-2013 (Standing Committee on Road Safety,
2010), seeks to support the decline in road safety indicators. It will be dedicated to the
implementation of all the provisions of a new law (52-05) on the rules of the road, the
implementation of tools, the acquisition of all equipment, building and human resources
required and
adds two focus areas
(focus areas 8 and 9)
, namely:
8.
Promotion of road safety education at schools and;
9.
Promotion of scientific research and technological monitoring of traffic and traffic safety.
PSIUII and PSIUIII indicate that the action plans implemented in PSIUI and PSIUII have had an
impact on road crashes andmore specifically on fatalities. This is especially evident in the period
2008- 2010 (Ministry of Equipment and Transport, 2006) and this decline is attributed to these
interventions. However, the number of fatalities in 2011 increased to a level above that of 2008
and hence the downward trend appears temporary. Consequently a more sustainable approach
to manage the problems seems necessary.
In 2013 the Ministry of Equipment, Transport and Logistics adopted the new outline for the
period 2013-2016 which focused on the nine axes of PSIU III.
The PSIU-4 covers the period 2016-2025. Its ambitious target is to halve the number of traffic
fatalities in 2015 and to achieve a 25% reduction in traffic fatalities in 2020. Expressed in
numbers, the targets are to reduce the number of traffic fatalities to 2,800 or less in 2020 and to
1,900 or less in 2015. The contents of PSIU-4 were not yet available at the time of this report.
Besides the PSIU, which has a focus on change of driver behaviour through legislation,
enforcement and education, further improvements in road safety are being planned by road
improvement plans. The “programme spécial des aménagements de sécurité” (PSAS) covers the
period 2014-2018. An important aim of this project is to improve safety of main highways by
installing guard rails. Besides plans for improving highway safety, Morocco, also has plans for
extending and improving the rural road network in the coming years (e.g. OITC, 2013)
The action plan for road safety 2013-2016 (“Orientations stratégiques 2013-2016”) lists short-
term actions for 9 spearheads of policy: