Moroccan Highway Giant Ordered to Pay for Dog Collision: Landmark Ruling Shifts Road Safety Responsibility

The administrative court of Tangier has ordered the National Motorway Company of Morocco (ADM) to pay an indemnity of 40,380 dirhams to a driver. It is also obliged to cover the legal costs. The court, however, rejected the other claims of the plaintiff. The plaintiff’s vehicle was involved in a serious road accident caused by a collision with a stray dog on the highway, at the level of the province of Larache.

According to the court, ADM bore a share of responsibility, for not having implemented the necessary measures to prevent the intrusion of animals on the highway, which constitutes a manifest failure in its obligations regarding the safety of citizens, reports Achkayen. The accident was not due to human error, but to a failure in safety conditions, he specified.

The facts for which ADM was convicted occurred in the early hours of March 14, 2024. At 5:30 a.m., a Mercedes driven by the plaintiff’s brother, traveling on the highway, at the level of the province of Larache, suddenly collided with a dog that was on the road, in the absence of any fencing or surveillance. According to police report no. 2155 of the Royal Gendarmerie of Larache, the accident caused significant material damage.

According to the plaintiff, the responsibility lay entirely with the National Motorway Company of Morocco, as the entity in charge of the safety of users. In his complaint filed with the first chamber of the administrative court of Tangier, he highlighted the lack of surveillance and preventive measures, such as fences or control teams, which allowed the animal to enter the roadway and cause the accident. He attached to his complaint a detailed invoice indicating a vehicle repair cost of 54,729 dirhams, the same source reported. All these elements allowed the court to rule on this case and to convict ADM.