People, Environment
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Plan to Ban Substandard Motorcycles

Plan to Ban Substandard Motorcycles
Plan to Ban Substandard Motorcycles

The air pollution committee at the Department of Environment has approved a measure that would finally put an end to the production of substandard motorcycles equipped with outdated carburetors.

If approved by the Cabinet, the ban will go into effect in mid-September.

Tehran’s streets are littered with highly polluting motorcycles whose emissions are five times greater than the average car in Tehran.

“So you can see why we need to replace these motorcycles with hybrid or electric alternatives,” Saeed Motessadi, deputy for human habitats at the DOE and a member of the committee, was quoted by IRNA as saying.

The problem with hybrid motorcycles is the hefty price tag, “so we need to incentivize the production and purchase of these vehicles.”

One measure that is apparently in effect is the scrapping of import tax on hybrid motorcycle parts.

Amirhossein Qanati, director of the Vehicle and Propulsion Systems Office at the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Trade, said years of negligence on the part of manufacturers who failed to comply with government directives that called for the production of motorcycles with high emission standards “forced our hand.”

“We’ve already told manufacturers that they have to stop taking orders for more carburetor-equipped motorcycles.”

Rude and lawless motorcyclists are among the most reviled people in Tehran, mostly due to their recklessness and often nasty attitude. They try to circumvent traffic by weaving between vehicles or riding at full speed on the sidewalks, endangering pedestrians, including schoolchildren, mothers ferrying tiny tots to and from school and the elderly.

Replacing conventional motorcycles with modern hybrid ones is also expected to help alleviate Tehran’s noise pollution.

Financialtribune.com