Motoring Fines in Morocco
 

Hi all,
Been meaning to post this for a while, but only just hit reasonable wi-fi.
Please be aware that the cost of motoring fines has gone up significantly (change happened late 2010 we believe, but was news to us)
Everything is detailed at great length in a free booklet (apparently available in any significant town), but shown to us at the roadside in Tan-Tan.
Basically as the driver of a car/camper/4x4, as long as you are wearing your seat belt and not talking on the phone (class 2 & 3 infractions respectively), anything you do wrong is a 1st class infraction and as such is liable for a 700 dirham fine!
This is big money (to us at least), but does seem to be legit.

Be careful, especially at badly placed stop signs in the middle of roundabouts!

Apparently a new "highway code" was introduced on 1st October 2010, based on the Swedish highway code we were told. It seems very strict.

We there on 1st October 2010 and the police were out in force. 1st stop was for crossing a solid white line - I was bang to rights - but the senior officer decided to let us go after a good talking to. Second stop, next day, was for an unspecified offence where we were picked out of a line of traffic at a sort of checkpoint thing. An officious youngster was determined to do us despite his colleagues seemingly telling him to let us go. We had been overtaking but on the right side of the line, and further down the road we had definitely been speeding. Anyway the total fine for both of us was about Dh3000 (I think) which we genuinely didn't have. They eventually settled on doing just me for Dh1500. (I cant really remember how much exactly actually, but it was more than a fixed penalty in the UK). I got a full receipt and everything signed by 3 police including a senior guy in a fancy uniform, so it seemed proper - unlike a visit in 2007 when a policeman helped himself from my wallet saying "un cadeaux pour moi" slipping a new Dh100 note into his shirt pocket and saluting me.

20euro for speeding 72kph in a 60 zone :( my fault and we've been stopped many times over the years but this was the first fine ever

Hah! Don't try to pin the blame on us. :)

Last time I was stopped in Rabat for speeding, I got away with offering a cigar.

Crossing the white line in Azrou, we were talked to a little bit.
This was in 2010-11.

At the Dahkla crossing, a paranoid young officer wanted to interrogate me after spotting a pair of binoculars and camera equipment in the car. Could perhaps have something to do with a Swedish documentary having been filmed in Dakhla just before, exposing the illegal fishing done in West Saharan waters? (partly by Swedish vessels)

Years before that, they were usually asking 400Dh cadeau. Especially after they got those laser toys. Last few years have been better.

The blame game.
 

I was in Morocco in April 2009 when the new laws were proposed and in various conversations I was told it was the fault of
a) The Belgians
b) The Swiss
c) The Austrians
d) The Canadians?

The new laws were introduced by the Moroccan government to improve driving standards. Hence the increased fines for speeding, shooting a red light or crossing solid white lines, etc and open season for traffic cops.

This caused outrage with many folks complaining that speed limit signs were missing, white lines were faded and red lights not working or obscured.

Consequently there was a general strike by taxi drivers, hauliers, etc. This lead to widespread fuel shortages, especially in the south.

Happy trails,

Peter

I was caught speeding in 2010, so were a couple of other people I know and the fine then was 400Dh.

Be careful when entering or exiting towns and also on toll roads near any toll booths and anywhere in or near TanTan

In April this years, I lost count of the number of speed traps between Meknes to Sidi Allal el Bahraoui on the A2 it was something like six.

Saying all this, I have always been treated very fairly by all officials in Morocco and don't have any complaints.

Found some more information now

There are three levels of fines

Speeding
700Dh exceed the speed limit by between 30 and less than 50 km
500Dh exceed the speed limit by between 20 and less than 30 km
300Dh exceeding the speed limit by less than 20 km

Etc

Link

I got fined 40 euros for not stopping at a stop sign and 30 euros for speeding a few weeks ago. I still got the receipts

Fair do's for the speeding as I was going fast what with all the excitement of seeing that amazing beach coming in Dakhla but the stop sign was a bust, watch out for those little buggers - they can be hard to see sometimes