Algeria : “The carnage on the roads on the decline by 30%”

The National Gendarmerie services have recorded a marked slump in road accidents since the coming into force of the new Highway Code last February.

• Under the new Highway Code, the fines  given to reckless vehicle drivers have increased from 74 to 79% as the number of fatalities because of road accidents decreased from 506 to 354 during the months of March and February of the current year.
• According to statistics related to road safety for the months of February and March obtained by “Echorouk”, the overall number of road accidents slumped from 3.569 for the same period in 2009 to 2.303 in 2010, that is a decrease of 1.266 accidents.
• The number of persons injured has consequently declined by 2.058, going from 6.080 to 4.022.
• These encouraging figures translate the beneficial effects of the stringent implementation by the security services of the revamped law on road safety in Algeria.
• For the same period, Algiers is on top of the wilayas or provinces which have registered the highest number of road accidents, that is 151 followed by Sétif with 126 road accidents.
• The main causes behind these road accidents include among other things, overspeeding, dangerous overtaking, reckless driving, lost of control of the vehicle and driving under the influence of alcohol.