MOROCCO: DEMARCHE ON DISTRACTED DRIVING DELIVERED

UNCLAS RABAT 000118 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR OES/S CARTER-FOSTER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON SOCI ELTN MO SUBJECT: MOROCCO: DEMARCHE ON DISTRACTED DRIVING DELIVERED REF: SECSTATE 06703 ¶1. (U) Embassy delivered reftel demarche by diplomatic note to Morocco's Ministry of Transportation and Equipment on February 2. ¶2. (U) The use of mobile phones while driving is illegal in Morocco, but "hands-free" sets are allowed. On January 5, the Parliament of Morocco passed a new highway law ("Code de la Route) significantly increasing fines for hand-held mobile phone use while driving from 100 to 500 dirhams (approximately US $60). The law is expected to take effect on October 1, 2010. ¶3. (U) According to the Ministry of Transportation and Equipment,s preliminary data for 2009, 3,964 people were killed in traffic accidents during the year, 2.42 percent more than in 2008. The Ministry also recorded an overall rise in traffic accidents of 18.67 in 2009 compared to the average for the previous five years (2004-2008). ¶4. (U) Morocco has a high level of mobile phone use, with a market penetration of 80.4 percent as of September 2009, when the number of subscribers of mobile phone networks stood at 25 million. ***************************************** Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Moro cco ***************************************** KAPLAN