Morocco Moves to Regulate Electric Scooters in New Traffic Law

The Ministry of Transport and Logistics announces the completion of an important milestone marked by the publication of the draft law amending and supplementing Law No. 52.05 relating to the Highway Code, by the General Secretariat of the Government, for public consultation. The text provides, in its first article, for offenses against users of electric scooters, in particular "the driving of a motor-assisted bicycle, a motorcycle, a motor tricycle or a motor quadricycle, without a body, without the use of an approved helmet." The offenses are of various kinds: "the failure by the driver of a vehicle to comply with the mandatory stop imposed by a "Stop" sign or a red light; the use of the telephone or the fact of speaking while holding it in the hand during driving, or of any other device fulfilling the same function."

According to the same article, the electric-assisted bicycle is defined as "any bicycle with at least two wheels, equipped with an auxiliary electric motor with a power of less than or equal to 250 watts, whose electric power supply is interrupted when the rider stops pedaling, or gradually decreases until it stops completely before the vehicle reaches a speed of twenty-five (25) kilometers per hour." Another definition: "The motorized personal mobility vehicle is any motorized vehicle without a seat, designed and manufactured to transport a single person, without equipment dedicated to the transport of goods, equipped with a steering device (such as a handlebar) and equipped with a non-thermal motor or non-thermal assistance, with a maximum factory speed greater than 6 kilometers per hour without exceeding 25 kilometers per hour."

The text also provides for the impounding of the vehicle by the judicial police officer or the reporting agent in certain cases, in particular when it is circulating on the highway without being able to reach a speed of 60 kilometers per hour. This amendment aims to "add new situations taking into account the particularities of modern electronic devices, while removing the offenses related to this device from the list of first-class offenses," specifies the draft law.