What are Morocco's speed limits and road rules?

Morocco drives on the right, overtakes on the left, and uses standard European-style signage, so the basics will feel familiar to most visitors. The headline limits are 120 km/h on the autoroutes (the excellent toll motorways linking Tangier, Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech and Agadir), generally 100 km/h on open single-carriageway roads, and 40 to 60 km/h once you enter a town or village.

The single most important rule to internalise is that limits drop hard and fast at the edge of any built-up area — often from 100 straight to 60, then 40 through the centre. That transition zone is precisely where speed enforcement lives. Treat every approaching village as a 'lift off the throttle now' cue and you'll avoid the overwhelming majority of fines.

On the rules themselves: seatbelts are compulsory front and rear, using a handheld phone while driving is prohibited, and children should be properly restrained. Headlights aren't required by day on open roads but use them in the mountains, tunnels and poor visibility. At roundabouts, be aware practice can differ from theory — locally, traffic already on the roundabout doesn't always yield as you'd expect, so approach defensively.

The autoroutes are genuinely first-rate — smooth, well-maintained, lightly trafficked and a pleasure to drive — but they're toll roads (péage). You collect a ticket on entry and pay cash on exit; keep coins and small notes handy. The secondary network varies from good to patchy, with the rougher surfaces, potholes and unmarked edges concentrated on rural and mountain routes.

A word on driving culture: it's more assertive than northern Europe or North America. Expect mopeds threading gaps, the occasional unlit cart, overtaking on blind bends by impatient locals, and animals at the roadside in rural areas. None of it is hostile, but it rewards a calm, anticipatory, defensive style. Drive to the signs, leave space, and don't try to win the road — that's the whole game here.