Morocco - driving
Posted by Anura Samara, 4 January 2015
Driving in Morocco was easier than I thought it would be – give or take the odd speeding fine.
I’ll admit to being nervous about driving in Morocco. Most of the stories I’d heard from friends were good, but then you do read some horror stories online.
However, once I had instructions on how to leave the airport and get to the main road out of town (and with a guide leading the way on a motorbike), it was all pretty easy. The hardest part was adapting to single lane highways with a variety of traffic. With trucks, motorbikes and even donkey carts being driven at different speeds, it’s just impossible to maintain a constant speed and soak up the distances. There were a few short stretches with dual lanes but these didn’t last long.
Driving through the towns was a bit more challenging, as local vehicle and foot traffic just seemed to spill out into the middle of the main road. So you just have to take it slow and let the others make their way across the road.
Back on the highway, the speed limit quickly drops from 100km/h to 80 km/h and then 60 km/h an hour through every intersection. It’s the same in each town and village, and when I say “quickly drops” it’s because the speed signs are about 100 metres apart. Which is how I came to pick up a speeding fine for failing to slow down fast enough to hit the 60km/h speed limit through a town. Two motorcycle cops were behind a tree with a speed camera, and caught me doing 69km/h. They were polite, explained the speed I had been doing and how the speed zones worked. I admitted that it was my first ever speeding fine, the cop said I was the first ever Australian he had caught speeding so the fine was reduced from 300 dirhams to only 100. Of course, as it was a bit of a deal I didn’t get the official paperwork so technically, I’ve still got a clean driving record.
The worst part of driving was night-time. The roads are dark, and people insist on walking or riding their bikes on the very edge of the already narrow road. It’s not too bad if the road is clear, but if you’re behind a large vehicle you have no idea that anyone is there. It’s even worse when you want to overtake as you can’t be absolutely sure that there’s nothing in your path.
There was a lot more traffic around in Marrakesh when we dropped the car back, but after driving in Paris it was no big deal really!
Everywhere you go, there are parking attendants. Even in car parks with modern-looking ticket machines, you still pay the attendant. I guess there’s a sense of security in knowing that someone is looking out for your vehicle, but it gets a bit hard when different guys charge different amounts on different days. And then when you go to retrieve your car, another guy turns up with a bucket and cloth to clean it and also expects to be paid.
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