Statistics on road mishaps in the past Iranian calendar year (ended March 20) and the Iranian New Year holidays (ended April 2) were announced during the road safety committee's latest meeting, ISNA reported on Thursday.
In the past Iranian year 49,866 people were either killed or injured in road accidents around the country. In 5,364 cases 6,916 citizens died at the scene of the accident.
Gilan, Isfahan, Razavi Khorasan, East Azarbaijan, and Fars were the top five provinces in which the most accidents happened.
Nowruz Accidents
During the two-week Iranian New Year holidays (Nowruz), of the 292 road collisions, 391 individuals were pronounced dead at the scene. The statistics available for the same period during previous year indicated that 357 fatal cases of road collisions were registered and 564 individuals died on the scene.
This indicates that the number of traffic related deaths has decreased by 18 percent compared to the same period the year before; also, fatalities have reduced by 16 percent.
The number of non-fatal injuries registered in the same period was down by one percent compared to the same period last year, the number of individuals incurring injuries also decreased by 16 percent. During the 2014 Nowruz holiday, 2,974 accidents resulted in non-fatal injuries with 4,889 citizens injured. During this Iranian New Year, 2,932 accidents were reported in which 4,723 individuals were injured.
Iran is ranked as one of the top countries in road fatalities as traffic accidents on roads cause thousands of deaths and injuries every year in the country. Traffic fatalities annually cost Iran’s economy $6 billion, which amounts to more than five percent of the country’s Gross National Product.
According to UNICEF, it is has been projected that by the year 2020, road crashes will rank ahead of cancer and behind only heart disease and depression in terms of life-years lost.
While speeding is the main factor contributing to road traffic injuries, driver fatigue, drowsy driving, distracted driving, and illegal over-taking have all been listed as detrimental factors, said Traffic Police Chief Brigadier General Eskandar Momeni.
Transportation infrastructure is also in need of major overhaul, as road conditions are creating traffic problems.
Several of the human fatalities in road accidents were due to human trafficking violations. According to statistics revealed by the national traffic police, during the two-week Nowruz holidays, more than 60 individuals killed in road accidents were Afghans illegally trafficked into Iran.
Each year 300,000 unauthorized Afghan immigrants are arrested in Iran and sent back home. The estimated number of illegal foreigners (mostly Afghans) is nearly 500,000.
