The new traffic law will eliminate the phenomenon of insecurity on the roads

The Minister of Interior, Local Governments and Transport, Al-Saeed Saeed, confirmed that the new draft traffic law embodies a comprehensive and balanced vision for building a safe and sustainable traffic system, based on prevention, deterrence, and coordination between all parties, while protecting citizens and ensuring their right to safe movement.

The minister explained, during his presentation of the text of the traffic law before the Local Equipment and Development Committee of the National Assembly, according to a statement by the ministry, that the initiative to draft this text comes as an embodiment and implementation of the instructions of the President of the Republic aimed at strengthening measures and procedures that would eliminate the phenomenon of traffic insecurity and create a safe traffic environment.

Saeed pointed out the huge burden caused by traffic accidents, especially the huge loss of life and property and the cost of traffic accidents on the public treasury, as the project gave great importance to the safety of the vehicle and the road and held all parties criminally and civilly liable in the event of a violation of traffic rules.

The government representative added that the current draft came with new measures and procedures that enable it to confront various accelerating global changes that threaten security and traffic safety in the country, noting that the draft law was structured in 10 chapters that include 190 articles.

The Minister of Interior highlighted that the new draft traffic law came to express a clear political vision that aims to build a society that respects the system and values ​​life, and to confirm that the safety of citizens is not an option, but rather an explicit commitment from the state towards its people, and this is through establishing a traffic culture among citizens.

Saeed also noted that the project is considered a fundamental step towards a more disciplined and secure future, and it embodies the 54th commitment of the President of the Republic, which stipulates ensuring the security of citizens and the safety of public and private property.

The Minister also reviewed the most prominent aspects of the project, including traffic safety and prevention, reducing traffic accidents by addressing all causes, whether related to the driver, the vehicle, or the surroundings of the road. Those charged with roads and their maintenance bear civil liability for traffic accidents caused by road completion, preparation, or maintenance work that they carry out that does not conform to the specified standards and specifications, or that occur due to their negligence and failure to carry out these works. They also bear compensation resulting from material damage to the road, its annexes, and its equipment.

The same speaker explained, with regard to determining responsibilities, that all parties causing traffic accidents should be held responsible, including tampering with technical monitoring reports, granting driver’s licenses with favoritism, and those responsible for maintaining roads. It is also a crime to hand over reports to technical monitoring or reports to conformity monitoring in which it is proven that one of the defects present in the inspected vehicle was not recorded in accordance with the applicable regulation or that it includes materially incorrect facts.

Regarding the driver’s license and training, the Minister stated that there is compulsory training, medical and periodic examinations, and combating the abuse of drugs and psychotropic substances to ensure the competence of drivers.

The Minister added, regarding professional driving, to organizing the transportation of people, goods, and dangerous materials, with the adoption of certificates of professional competence, respect for driving and rest times, and the use of modern monitoring devices, pointing out the control and technology of electronic payment of fines, drug detection devices, fixed and mobile weighing stations, and national information systems for monitoring accidents and black spots.

Regarding combating fraud, Saeed highlighted the criminalization of the import, manufacture and marketing of non-conforming spare parts, and the tightening of penalties if they cause accidents. As for the penal framework, it concerns classifying violations according to their seriousness into violations, misdemeanors and felonies, while specifying the appropriate penalties and complementary measures.