Participants at a meeting held in Khenifra on the occasion of National Road Safety Day, celebrated every year on 18 February, stressed the need for joint action and general mobilisation to tackle the scourge of road accidents, as road safety is "everyone's responsibility".

Opening the proceedings of this meeting, the governor of the province, Mohamed Ali Oukassou, indicated that this National Day provides an opportunity to evaluate the various measures and efforts deployed by the different services concerned to stop the carnage. This day also offers the opportunity to measure the effectiveness of the resources mobilised to deal with the rise in road accident victims and to examine the programmes and strategies to be implemented in the future in order to meet this challenge, he added.

After highlighting the enormous socio-economic losses caused by this "road war", the governor considered that laws, however developed they may be, cannot on their own mitigate the carnage without a real change in the behaviour and mentality of road users, noting that the human element remains the main cause of accidents.

For their part, representatives of the various security services concerned (Royal Gendarmerie, National Security) and Civil Protection presented reports in which they outlined the results of their respective services' activities in the field of road safety in 2012.

For his part, the provincial director of Equipment and Transport (DPET) focused on the main guidelines and objectives of the 3rd integrated strategic emergency plan for road safety and the national road control plan (2011-2013), reviewing the recommendations resulting from a study carried out in this regard to ensure the safety of pedestrians within the urban perimeter.

At the end of this meeting, the participants went to the "Mokhtar Soussi" school in the city of Khenifra to attend practical lessons on road safety for the benefit of pupils at this primary school.