A file photo of an accident in Cairo (Photo: Al-Ahram)
Egypt is set to implement a heavy truck ban on the Greater Cairo Ring Road starting Saturday, the official state news agency MENA reported on Friday.
The ban will be enforced between 6am and 12am, and will affect trucks with loads of more than four tonnes of cargo.
The heavy trucks can use the country's massive regional road as an alternative to the ring road. The regional road connects several major districts of the city, and is a key route for commuter traffic.
The ring road is a common site of traffic accidents. Heavy trucks are often blamed for major deadly accidents around the country's highways.
In a recent meeting, Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the decision, which was made earlier this September, would contribute in a lowering of traffic pressure on the Ring Road, by an estimated 30 to 35%.
He added that both the police and the army would coordinate to ensure that the new decision is implemented, and would not allow violations which threaten the safety of roads to occur.
Deadly road accidents take place on a near daily basis in Egypt, a country that is unfortunately notorious for inadequate road safety, poorly maintained infrastructure, and loosely applied traffic regulations.
The country's official statistics agency said in April that more than 11,000 road accidents took place in Egypt in 2017, down from around 15,000 accidents in the previous year.
The government has recently issued new traffic laws to enforce safer driving practices.
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