Over one-third of vehicles used in Tehran failed to meet emission standards and pass technical inspection tests.
Hossein Moqaddam, the CEO of Tehran Vehicle Technical Inspection Bureau, said that in the last Iranian year (ended March 20, 2021), 1.66 million vehicles visited the capital's technical inspection centers, of which 1.19 million were under four years old and underwent their first technical check, Hamshahri Online reported.
"Of the 597,600 new vehicles rejected, 17% did not receive the certificate due to high emission, 11% for wheel alignment, 4% for shock absorber failure, 13% for brake system problems and 16% for appearance issues,” he added.
The official noted that during the period, 1.13 technical certificates have been issued, of which 850,000 were regular and 283,000 were premium type.
The premium certificate has higher standards than that of the normal technical inspection certificates. While in normal tests, vehicles’ emissions are monitored in a low-speed performance but for receiving the premium certificate, the carbon monoxide emission of cars is assessed at 2,500 rpm.
Explaining that the number of visits to the test centers has increased to 6,500 per day, the official said launching online booking systems, increasing inspection centers and expanding their working hours have reduced the test time to less than an hour.
Moqaddam noted that citizens can save more time by finding less crowded centers on the inspection bureau’s website.
Dangers and Measures
Vehicles that do not meet local emission and safety standards spew poison into the air, threaten people’s lives and damage the environment.
Tehran Municipality’s Transportation and Traffic Organization has estimated that air pollution in the capital costs $2.6 billion annually.
To curb the worsening problem, TM has devised several schemes to regulate vehicles plying the city’s roads.
In November 2018, the technical inspection certificate became mandatory for all two- and four-wheelers plying the capital’s streets.
The Air Pollution Reduction Scheme bars smog-inducing clunkers from entering the already clogged roads of the metropolis and those found in breach are fined.
Another more recently launched scheme is dubbed Air Pollution Control, based on which each vehicle can enter a "restricted zone" in central Tehran for free for a maximum 20 days each season (three months), or 80 days a year.
Spread over 88.5 square kilometers in central Tehran, the zone is bounded by Imam Ali Expressway in the east, Navvab Expressway and Chamran Highway in the west, Besat Expressway in the south and Hemmat Expressway in the north.
As per APC, if motorists wish to enter the zone more than the number of times mentioned in the plan, they need to pay a toll fee.
Besides the two, the Traffic Scheme is being enforced in an area limited by Motahari Street (north), Shariati Street (east), Kargar (west) and Shoosh (south). Cars, except for public transportation vehicles, are barred from entering the area between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. Private vehicles need to pay 414,000 rials ($3.3) to enter the zone.
These schemes have been implemented in the hope of tackling Tehran’s poor air quality. However, they cannot address the issue until a significant change is made in the quality of locally-produced vehicles.
Quality Improvement
Iran Standards and Quality Inspection Company has released its latest report on ranking locally-made cars, which indicate a slight improvement in vehicle quality.
The vehicles are ranked from one to a maximum of five stars based on their quality.
The report classifies the cars in five price ranges, from the cheapest costing 870 million rials ($3,515) to the most expensive costing around 10 billion rials ($40,400).
According to the ISQI ranking, a small city car Quick made by SAIPA has earned four out of five stars for the first time in the ranking. The model costs 1.3 billion rials ($5,252) and is classed in the fourth price group.
The previous round of quality inspections had awarded five stars to the automatic Dena Plus Turbo made by the leading domestic automaker Iran Khodro (IKCO).
Four- and three-star categories were the largest groups, mainly featuring IKCO and SAIPA models.
Peugeot 405 model, made by IKCO and SAIPA’s Pride models were phased out of the production line, since they suffered from several safety failures and never earned over two stars in the ISQI ranking.
Peugeot 405 is a large family car released by the French automaker Peugeot in July 1987, which continues to be manufactured under license outside France, as its production was discontinued in Europe in 1997.
SAIPA’s small city car, Pride, has been produced in Iran for decades.
The production of some versions of Pride was ceased in June 2020 because of its serious safety failures and quality issues. Soon, it was excluded from the quality ranking list.
The production of other versions is continuing, but the car remains distinguished by its ultra-low quality.
Pride was originally developed for Japanese and South Korean markets in the late 1980s. The car was widely sold in the United States as a Ford Festiva in the early 1990s. It entered the Iranian market in 1993 under license from Kia and has continued to be a cash cow for SAIPA.
Three years ago, the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran and Iran’s Automotive Policymaking Council set new automotive standards and gave a two-year ultimatum to automakers to comply.
The production of vehicles that cannot meet 83 automotive standards was expected to be halted by the end of 2018. SAIPA’s Pride topped the elimination list.
A recent study conducted on Iranian road accidents recorded over the past decade showed that the road killer was involved in one-third of the fatalities.
Road crashes claimed 206,049 lives in the 11 years ending March 2019, data from Iranian Legal Medicine Organization show.
Up to 34% of the figure, constituting 70,056 victims, have died in a Pride car.
