Over 395 Million Trips Logged in Norouz

Over 395 million trips have been registered across the country during the 13-day New Year Holiday known as Norouz, Traffic Police chief General Kamal Hadianfar stated. 
“The trend indicates that there’s been a 40% surge in trips compared to the same time period the previous year,” Hadianfar was quoted as saying by IRNA. 
He added that 666 people had died in road accidents during Norouz and more than 14,000 had been injured. 
Hadianfar pointed out, “Some 76% of the crashes had been caused by speeding, inability to control the vehicle, lack of attention, fatigue and drowsiness.”
The majority of accidents occurred between noon and 8 pm, he said, noting that this data should be considered by motorists deciding to travel during the holidays. 
Shahriar Afandizadeh, transport deputy of the Road Ministry, stated on Saturday that 13 million travelers had used the public transport system to take trips in Norouz. 
Among the 5.6 million who had taken to the road, 62% had used buses and 22.9% had used minivans, Afandizadeh said. 
Nearly 5.1 million had chosen the rail system as their means of travel and 2.4 million had boarded domestic and international flights. 
Hadianfar attributed the spike in travels to the containment of the Covid-19 pandemic. The public had avoided gatherings and trips during the outbreak until widespread vaccination alleviated concerns regarding the virus. 
According to him, 40 million vehicles had moved from one point to another during the holidays, a 52% rise compared to the same period two years ago, when the coronavirus was in full swing. 
The most popular destinations include the northern provinces of Mazandaran and Gilan, the southern Hormozgan and the eastern Khorasan Razavi. Fars, Khuzestan, Bushehr and Eastern Azerbaijan were also tourist hotspots during the two-week holiday.