Morocco’s annual socio-economic burden from road accidents is estimated at MAD 19.5 billion, according to Benaceur Boulaajoul, the Director-General of the National Road Safety Agency (NARSA).
The Economist hosted a webinar on the cost of road insecurity, in which Boulaajoul acknowledged that studying the socio-economic impact of traffic accidents was an ” extremely complex process”, estimating that the cost of a road accident death in Morocco amounts to approximately MAD 3 million, reports MAP.
The country has made considerable efforts in the area of road safety in the Kingdom since the implementation of the national road safety strategy in 2003. A second strategy for the years 2017-2026 aims to halve the number of traffic fatalities, the same source reports.
“The objective is far from being achieved, with only a drop of 4% compared to the base year of the strategy,” said Boulaajoul, emphasizing that there is still much to be done in this regard.
Additionally, the Director-General of NARSA explained that road safety requires close collaboration between all relevant actors, including the private sector, the public sector, and civil society in order to be a success.
The creation of NARSA also demonstrates the work being done by the Kingdom in this direction, Boulaajoul continued, adding that the agency is accomplishing an enormous amount of work and has been able to achieve an array of honorable results, especially in controlling loss-related cost.
According to the representative of the World Health Organization in Morocco (WHO), Maryam Bigdeli, road safety awareness needs to be a comprehensive and multisectoral effort, considering the variety of actors involved.
Moreover, Bigdeli reflected on the impact of road accidents on emergency services and blood supplies, stressing the need for better emergency services, not only in terms of investments in infrastructure but also in terms of training of medical personnel.
The Director-General of the Moroccan Federation of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies, Bachir Baddou, says that compensation amounting to around MAD 11 billion was paid in 2019, of which 35% was for material damage, according to MAP.
According to him, a very significant improvement in recent years has been observed due to more material accidents in recent years. Aside from NARSA’s efforts, Baddou emphasized that the proportion of material accidents is on the rise while it is decreasing for fatal accidents.
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