Egyptian Gov passes points-based traffic law for safer roads

CAIRO - 22 October 2017: The Egyptian government passed the new traffic law exclusive to punishable traffic infractions. They hope that there will be a reduction in the frequency of fatal accidents and prevent motorists from committing traffic violations on the road.

The new law suggests establishing a points-based system. The license holder will be given 50 points. With each violation, he/she loses a point or more.

When all points are deducted, the driver’s license shall be suspended for 30 days. To get the license back, the driver must enroll in an accredited driving school to learn more about the traffic laws.

In view of the new traffic law, Egypt Today newspaper summarized the punishable articles, fineable offences, and major reforms to Egyptian traffic law in 44 years as follow:

• Traffic officers are to spot the traffic offences and register them electronically and stop writing down the offences in a notebook.

• Officers shall set 50 traffic points for each driver to be deducted according to the committed violation.

• People with special needs, the elderly, and the patients shall be granted a conditional driving license.

• Criminal penalties for motorists shall be punishable by imprisonment or fine payment according to the magnitude of the offense.

• Cars, horse-drawn carriages, and hand carts must set their traffic line in advance.

Based on points-deduction system, the traffic law is divided into five subsections based on the points he/she loses as a penalty.

When on the road, the motorist loses 1 point if he/she does not abide by traffic laws and regulations, observe safety distances, hold a driving license, or open the left door (exclusive for public transport vehicles).

The motorist shall lose 2 points if s/he uses the mobile phone, exceeds a 10 km/h speed limit, moves the car backwards, or does not fasten the car seat belt.

The motorist loses 3 points if he/she holds an expired driving license, exceeds a 30 km/h speed limit, parks the car on the road sideline at night, or deliberately parks a trailer or a public transport vehicle in populated areas.

The motorist’s driving license will be suspended and he/she loses 4 points if he/she exceeds a 50 km/h speed limit, teaches driving courses on the road without a permission, refrains from showing driving license when requested, or drops the car load along the road (for trailers).

The motorist’s driving license will be suspended and loses 5 points if he/she drives in a reverse direction or under the influence, violate public morals or commit an act of public indecency.

In this context, all drivers will be exposed to a substance abuse detection test before taking the driving license. If the driver is proved that to be a drug user, he/she will be deprived from the license permanently, according to a security source.