The law does not seem to be made for everyone, especially regarding traffic in Marrakech. The Highway Code is flouted all day long by inconsiderate drivers. The situation is such that one wonders if all users really know or at least remember the basic rules of the Highway Code. A true anarchy, an indescribable mess, and disorder now reign supreme in the ochre city. Motorists, pedestrians, and drivers of two-wheelers, carts, and horse-drawn carriages do only as they please, hardly worrying about others, at the risk of causing serious accidents and unfortunate inconveniences. Driving in the wrong direction, parking on pavements and in bends, confiscation of space reserved for pedestrians, non-respect of traffic lights, speeding, dangerous overtaking, failure to wear a helmet for drivers of motorised two-wheelers... constitute, among others, the procession of infractions to make the traffic regulators and the officials of the National Committee for the Prevention of Road Accidents (CNPAC) pale. To tell the truth, the indiscipline of users and the non-respect of safety standards and the Highway Code, all involuntarily condoned by those who are in charge of road safety, will continue to plunge our city into mourning if no draconian and drastic measure is taken both upstream and downstream, and as soon as possible. Citizens are thus exasperated by this anarchy that suffocates the city and by the passivity of the various officials concerned, who, it seems, have trouble curbing this indiscipline. The management of road traffic in the ochre city now falls into the impossible in the eyes of the Marrakchis, who consider it more than necessary to design, today, a traffic plan specific to their city in full demographic and urban expansion. They also call for the establishment of cycle paths, given the existence of a large fleet of two-wheelers, a specificity of Marrakech, moreover. This anarchy has created a traffic based solely on the good will of users who often forget that traffic is a “collective game” and some of whom take our roads for a Formula 1 circuit. Many are, indeed, the unconscious who continue still and always to carry out wild “runs” on our roads. You really have to have strong enough nerves to resist driving in Marrakech, a city plagued by endless traffic jams and congestion that put the nerves of motorists to a severe test. Indeed, we witness daily astonishing spectacles: accidents, strident horns, insults, fights, pollution... One has the impression of living in a world of madmen. Road safety corresponds to a major public health and personal protection issue. It is a cause that should mobilise the whole of society so that our relationship with the road changes profoundly.
Respecting the Highway Code, remaining attentive, being sober and rested is the sine qua non condition to ensure one's own safety, that of one's passengers, and that of other road users. The challenge, here, is to change mentalities and behaviours. The number of deaths on our roads is one of the most significant indicators of road insecurity, which is everyone's business. Contacted by “Le Matin”, the regional director of equipment and transport, Mohamed Boutadghart, observed that road safety requires the mobilisation of all stakeholders and depends to a large extent on three components, which are the strengthening of control means, awareness campaigns, and the urban travel plan (PDU) of the city. While saying he was aware of the anarchy in road traffic, he immediately emphasised the importance of an educational continuum for road users, before noting that his institution only plays the role of advisor insofar as it does not intervene in traffic within the city. Mr Boutadghart also pleaded for the establishment of cycle paths within the city, knowing that the majority of victims of traffic accidents in Marrakech intra-muros are users of two-wheelers. Emergency measures must be taken to regulate traffic and alleviate the daily ordeal of the Marrakchis. The design of a new plan is now an imperative necessity in order to restore the balance between automobile and pedestrian traffic and, consequently, to make the ochre city “drivable”.
-* 140,000 vehicles.
-* Nearly 190,000 motorised two-wheelers.
-* 80,000 bicycles.
-* 3,500 taxis and 180 buses.
-* 150 horse-drawn carriages and 1,500 carts.
