Benin replaces 1956 road decree with 122-article code
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Matin Libre
Benin’s Parliament has adopted a Highway Code comprising six titles and 122 articles, replacing a decree dating from 1956. Law Commission chair Orden Alladatin presented the main changes at a press conference, according to Matin Libre.
Benin’s Parliament has adopted a Highway Code comprising six titles and 122 articles, replacing the 1956 decree that had governed road traffic. The main changes were presented on Monday at the National Assembly by Orden Alladatin, chair of the Law Commission, the Minister of Living Environment and Transport, and Ariel Sacramento, director general of the National Centre for Road Safety, Matin Libre reports.
The new code strengthens protection for pedestrians, who account for 15% of road deaths, and requires pavements, cycle lanes and pedestrian facilities to be incorporated into new infrastructure. It also formally bans the occupation of pavements, according to Orden Alladatin.
Road safety education becomes compulsory in primary school and continues at secondary level. Driving schools will have to provide a set number of hours of road safety awareness education in schools each year, the minister said.
The bill was prepared with the participation of almost all MPs at a parliamentary retreat in Grand-Popo, Orden Alladatin said. It forms part of the drive to harmonise laws discussed by the Benin Law Commission.
