Road Safety Reflects Government Efficiency

Reducing the toll of road traffic accidents is an indicator of the efficiency of governments, says Nasser Zakeri, an economist, in an article for the Persian daily Shargh. 
A translation of the text follows: 
Over centuries, one of the manifestations of effective statecraft was the promotion of road safety. With the weakening of the central government, bandits would ambush the caravans and loot their belongings. Therefore, the first move of any new ruler was to try to restore safety to the route of commercial caravans and citizens...