The Department of Environment and Traffic Police Department are working on a unified vehicle inspection system, a DoE deputy said.
According to Saeed Motessadi, the databank located at the Interior Ministry and the system it runs on, SIMFA, have been readied for implementation, ISNA reported.
The official noted that several vehicle inspection centers around the country are connected to the system.
“The police force, however, has not yet been connected,” he said.
Motessadi elaborated that the police force and the DoE are still negotiating details such as how much of the data available on car owners need to be fed into the new system and how to access the available information at the vehicle inspection centers.
The issues, he projected, will soon be resolved.
Planning for Safety
According to a report by YJC, aging cars are one of the biggest challenges in the fields of transportation and urban management.
Several environmental organizations consider this as one of the main factors causing air pollution. The new unified vehicle inspection system is expected to partly address this issue.
The problem, however, is not merely an environmental concern. Other issues at risk with old cars are passenger safety and vehicle durability.
In light of the increasing population during the past decade and with ever more families moving to urban areas, the number of cars has also increased significantly.
This called for the relevant authorities and specialists to think up plans for replacing old cars with new ones.
Nearly three years ago, it was officially announced that all vehicles can only work for 20 years after which they must be taken off the streets.
Single Lifespan
Some experts, however, were of the opinion that a single lifespan cannot be applied to all types of vehicles.
For instance, passenger vehicles, trucks, buses and minibuses have different technical features and should be taken off the streets at different times.
Experts criticized this new directive, saying that it cannot be backed up by technical research.
Prior to the development of the unified system, the government did not have a specific set of rules for the same type of vehicle.
In the past, regulations were more versatile, including different years for the following categories: passenger cars (20 years), pickup trucks (15 years), taxis and minibuses (10 years), city buses (8 years), trucks (20 years) and motorcycles (8 years).
According to details released by Air Quality Control Company affiliated to Tehran Municipality, there are currently approximately 3,047,000 passenger cars in Tehran and over 970,000 units of which have worked well over 15 years.
Statistics also show there are 1,880 taxis, 43,000 pickup trucks, over 5,350 minibuses, 656 buses, 25,300 light-duty trucks, and 16,730 motorcycles that have worked for over 15 years in the capital.
This highlights the need for a new set of standards in this regard.
