Road accidents decreased noticeably in fiscal 2021-22 compared to the previous year, the minster of industries said.
“There is some progress regarding road casualties, but we are far from the ideal. Road-related deaths have declined from fiscal 2013-14. Based on numbers released by the Statistical Center of Iran it reached 4.4 per 100 accidents in the calendar year 2020-21.
This decreased further and reached 1 per 100 accidents a year later in March 2021-22,” Reza Fatemi Amin was quoted as saying by Khabar Khodro (auto news) website.
“Since the number of vehicles on our roads shot up by 70% during the period, it could be said that the downward pattern is reasonable though still not acceptable,” Fatemi Amin said.
The minister recalled that almost 49% of the accidents in Iran occur due to human error, 36% as a result bad and dangerous roads while the poor quality of domestically-made vehicles account for the remaining fatalities.
Over the years the poor quality of cars made/assembled by domestic companies has emerged as a hot button issue among academia, the press, socioeconomic experts, the general public and Traffic Police officers.
A considerable number of vehicles (cars, buses and trucks) are old, dilapidated and should have been consigned to the scarp yard long back. But that has not happened thanks to the decline in purchasing power of the majority, worsening economic conditions and economic sanctions that disallow normal access to affordable/safe imported vehicles and parts.
“In the past ten plus years measures have been taken to minimize the risk of road mishaps,” the minister was quoted as saying.
“One of the measures is the anti-lock braking system (ABS) that became mandatory for all new [locally-made] cars in 2011. Another was the compulsion to install airbags in all domestic vehicles from 2014.”
He referred to the multiple-vehicle collision in the city of Bahbahan in southern Khuzestan Province on January 10 in which 59 vehicles crashed due to thick fog and low visibility and reiterated the need for effective measures to help reduce such mishaps.
Fatemi Amin pointed to some measures that can and must be taken to protect people’s lives on the road and their possessions.
“The first step in this area is to modernize automotive platforms because we have cars that are not safe due to ageing platforms. We started changing the platforms last year.”
“The next is stringent safety rules, which we announced in collaboration with the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran to protect pedestrians. The expansion of technical tests was another move. Regrettably we do not have enough infrastructure in this field and cars have to be sent to other countries for the tests, which takes about six months to a year and delays overall performance.”
Regarding another measure that must be taken, he said: “Accident simulation is another measure that has been taken as well as quality control. The use of advanced technology in the final assembly phase to curb wreckage during accidents is also in place.”
“Another key issue in the standardization of cars is the protection of the pedestrian. If a car hits a pedestrian the front of the car and hood should be such that it causes less harm to the pedestrian. It is unfortunate that pedestrians account for about 28% of fatalities in road accidents. All new domestic models have this important feature.”
Setting up test centers for pedestrian protection is another priority one of which will open by March. The maneuverability test will be operational later in the year to address some drawbacks in this field.”
Online Sketch to Curb Fake Accidents
The Online Sketch Plan to reduce fake accidents, which was piloted in Qom Province a year ago, will be implemented nationwide.
Although officials are troubleshooting the plan, they claim that it is more practical and efficient than the traditional method for reducing staged and fake road accidents.
The plan is a joint undertaking of the Traffic Police and the Central Insurance company of Iran, domestic media reported.
Mohammad Baqer Salimi, head of the Urban Traffic Police Department, said damages below 160 million rials ($487) do not require accident reconstruction drawings.
“In such accidents, there is no need for the presence of a traffic police officer, and if there is mutual agreement both sides go to the insurance company with the necessary documents [driving license and insurance policy] and get paid for the damage,” he added.
The Online Sketch Plan is expected to help overcome the bureaucracy and hassles associated with post-accidents like wasting precious time and energy going to the traffic police station and insurance office(s).
The digitization of administrative and financial procedures related to accidents can help drivers handle the accident legally and speedily and overcome distress such incidents usually cause.
When an accident occurs, the traffic police officer arrives at the scene with an electronic device to draw a sketch and log the relevant information online that is conveyed to the police, judiciary and insurance company.
While officials say this plan will help reduce fake accidents, observers believe it will not produce the desired result.
The software apparently cannot do anything special and it is up to the police officer present at the scene of accident to determine whether the accident is fake.
If the officer notices that the person behind the wheel had had several accidents, a sketch of the accident will not be drawn and the accident will be referred to the police department as a suspicious case for further investigation.
Officials say the plan’s plus and minus points have been taken into consideration and are being addressed. One downside of the plan is that the Traffic Police need to create a nationwide electronic network and buy advanced equipment demanding a large budget, which so far is not available.
Nevertheless, police officers agree that the Online Sketch Plan can expedite the accident documentation process and the stored information will be easily accessible to the relevant institutions for further reference.
At times, the report on the circumstances and cause of the accident is unclear and the relevant insurance authorities face problems. But the new plan would address this issue and at the same time eliminate the police officer’s subjective evaluation of the accident.
