Interior Ministry looking at measures to decrease Libya’s high number of traffic accidents

General Khalid Mazen, Minister of the Interior, met with Dean Siddiqui Shibani, Director of Traffic and Licensing in Tripoli this week.

According to the Ministry’s Office of Public Information, the meeting examined the Department’s operation, assessed issues and impediments, and devised remedies.

Coordination between the Department and the regional traffic departments was also addressed.

In order to preserve traffic safety and traffic operators, the meeting also examined recorded traffic data and measures taken to minimize road accidents.

The number of traffic accidents in 2020 was over 36% higher than the numbers recorded in 2019 which saw around 1,115 traffic accidents with 1,409 deaths, a steep drop when compared to the whopping 2,500 deaths recorded in 2018.

The accidents largely affect young people due to their boundless disregard for traffic rules and a stark lack of consequences to those that violate driving laws.

Libya’s traffic police are largely underfunded and oftentimes overlooked as a result of the country’s state of continued chaos since the eruption of the 2011 revolution.