The Minister of Interior, Local Authorities, and Transportation, Said Sayoud, presented a draft traffic law to the Council of the Nation today. During a public session, Sayoud described the proposed legislation as a “significant step” towards enhancing road safety and protecting citizens from traffic accidents.
Presided over by the President of the Council of the Nation, Azzouz Nasseri, and in the presence of the Minister of Relations with Parliament, Najiba Djilali, the session highlighted the law’s objective to regulate traffic flow in line with the rapid increase in vehicles and infrastructure development. Sayoud emphasized that the law aims to address the growing concern of traffic accidents and their severe consequences.
The draft law includes revisions to the process of obtaining a driver’s license, requiring applicants to meet specific legal conditions demonstrating their fitness to operate vehicles. It also mandates equipping security personnel with technological tools for electronic payment of fines, drug detection, and weight monitoring at security checkpoints.
Furthermore, the proposed law criminalizes the issuance of technical inspection or conformity reports that fail to document existing vehicle defects or contain materially incorrect information. It also assigns responsibility to driving schools, vocational training institutions, those responsible for road construction and maintenance, and importers, manufacturers, and distributors of counterfeit vehicle parts.
The legislation classifies traffic offenses based on severity, distinguishing between minor infractions and felonies, and specifies supplementary penalties, such as driver’s license suspension or revocation and vehicle confiscation.
The Council of the Nation’s Committee on Equipment and Local Development, in its preliminary report on the draft law, raised concerns about the lack of adequate preparations prior to the law’s initiation and the extent of involvement of stakeholders in the transportation sector during its drafting. Committee members questioned the absence of a driver’s license points system instead of high fines. They also addressed the condition of roads and the haphazard placement of speed bumps, advocating for traffic safety studies and the widespread adoption of modern technologies such as smart radars and digital surveillance systems to improve traffic flow and reduce accidents. The implementation of intelligent transportation systems is seen as a key component of the new law.
