Even though Algeria has seen a sizeable decline in road accidents, many drivers are unhappy with the implementation of a year-old Highway Code.
The rate of road accidents in Algeria has dropped by nearly a quarter compared to last year, MPs announced at a session aimed to assess the effectiveness of 2010 Highway Code.
Algerian traffic fatalities dropped from 4,607 deaths in 2009 to 3541 deaths in 2010, with the number of daily casualties falling from 13 to 9, Transport Minister Amar Tou said during the January 5th meeting.
The number of injured decreased significantly from 64,148 in 2009 to 51,002 people in 2010, which means 37 fewer casualties a day. Overall, road accidents fell from 40,814 to 31,740, and the cost in material damage dropped from 100 billion dinars in 2009 to 79.25 billion in 2010.
Members of the transport and communications committee at the People's National Assembly, ministry officials, representatives of the national police force, gendarmerie and civil protection attended the meeting.
While admitting that the current legal framework had helped to curb the loss of human life, APN speaker Abdelaziz Ziari maintained that the code "needs to be revised and updated".
He also stated that work to raise awareness of road safety issues must be a "national priority" and called for using a "global approach involving families, schools, mosques and civil society organisations as well as state institutions".
Offences punishable by a new system of fines and licence confiscations include talking on the telephone while driving, failing to wear a seatbelt, straddling yellow lines, going through no entry signs, jumping a red light and driving too fast.
What upsets the public most is that, according to some drivers, traffic safety officers are themselves "guilty" of abuses.
Mohamed is an example. He had his licence confiscated "for an imaginary offence" for three months while he was travelling to work.
Most of the drivers Magharebia asked said that they received a verbal warning "for nothing", because the officer was "in a bad mood" or because he needed to achieve his "daily quota of warnings". They feel that the offences committed were quite trivial and did not justify the confiscation of their licences.
Still, there are exceptions. Abderrahmane is one of them.
"I committed a real offence, and when the officer stopped me, I decided that honesty would be my best defence. It paid off, because the officer didn't give me a warning, and I managed to avoid losing my licence. They'd already taken my licence away for a month because I was holding my phone," he said.
"I know people on the committee which confiscates licences. What's more, I've managed to get licences back for loads of friends and colleagues," Ammar, a professional driver, said.
A great number of citizens have spoken out against favouritism, and the internet is full of discussion forums on the issue.
In fact, drivers and traffic police have been engaged in what some see as a hide-and-seek game since the new Highway Code was brought in. Police officers set up roadblocks or hidden radar speed traps to catch offenders; meanwhile, drivers return to their bad habits once they are sure the coast is clear.
During the first quarter of 2010, the police confiscated 137,577 driving licences across the country as a whole for different offences under the highway regulations, which means over 1,500 licences a day.
In the wilaya of Algiers, 20,096 driving licences were registered during the first half of 2010, and 3,569 further confiscations took place in September.
Despite the outcry at the way the new code has been enforced, Tou ruled out any changes. According to the minister, the results have so far proved that the steps being taken to dissuade drivers from continuing their bad habits are the right ones.
The Highway Code is still "in its infancy", having been in effect for only 11 months, and it needs time before any amendments can be considered, Tou said. The official also pointed to a rise in fines collected from traffic stops, which increased to 89.5% in 2010 compared with just 8% in previous years, a figure which he said showed "total disregard for the law".
He commented to MPs that he had come to the meeting to look at road safety, and not the issue of people losing their licences. Still, he announced that a draft executive decree would be brought before the parliament in the near future to examine possibility of introducing a points system for driving licences.
© Magharebia.com 2011
