CAIRO: The People's Assembly approved the finalized traffic law Saturday, following amendments that triggered heated debates for over two months. "The amendments have been made to modify the law and make it applicable in contemporary Egypt, said Ezzat Badawy, deputy head of the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee at the PA. "The law was set in 1973 which was more than 30 years ago, it can't be applied in 2008, he added. The two most controversial articles were those dealing with taxi license renewals for cars older than 20 years and large trailers. The new law prohibits the renewal of taxi licenses and other passenger transportation vehicles which had been manufactured more than 20 years ago, with a grace period of three years for their owners to replace them. Old transportation vehicles can be converted into private cars, with a fund being established to finance the replacement process. "We didn't set these new laws as a punishment to the people, on the contrary, it is for their own benefit as now transportation will be much safer, said Badawy. Badawy explained that a taxi driver is like a civil employee whose salary must increase annually, but as a car becomes old, its expenses increase and thus the driver's income decreases accordingly. However, the new law will prevent this from happening as the driver will be forced to change the car. Opposition MP Saber Amer had previously told Daily News Egypt that even if the new law makes sense technically, it cannot be implemented for economic reasons explaining that the current economic situation makes it impossible for the large number of Egyptian taxi drivers to survive, this being their sole source of income. "We are not trying to burden the public; of course the government will assist taxi drivers in replacing their cars, said Badawy. "There is a fund at the Ministry of Finance set to help taxi drivers whether by replacing the car or compensating them for it, he explained. As for large trailers, the amendments ban the use of truck trailers, the importing or manufacturing of trailers, with a grace period of four years for their owners to replace them with other cargo transportation means. "This article is completely for safety measures, said Badawy. "These trailers currently cause 37 percent of road accidents, he added. Opposition MPs were also against this article as it will cause truck drivers to lose around LE 120,000, which is the approximate cost of each trailer, according to Amer. Overall, Badawy says that the traffic law is now balanced and will be able to regulate the chaotic state of traffic in Egypt right now. "We have set high fines for traffic penalties, we know that it's a high price but our aim is to stop people from breaking traffic laws completely, he said. Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that the session started out with clashes between Fathi Sorour, speaker of the PA, and Mofid Shihab, minister of state for legislative councils and legal affairs, when Sorour expressed his disappointment at the government for not having a representative present at such a critical PA session. The argument was resolved immediately and was erased from the meeting minutes.
