Data released by the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization reveal that over 5,800 people lost their lives in road accidents in four months ending July 22.
The rate has remained unchanged compared with the corresponding period of last year.
LMO’s charts show that during the period, 5,833 people lost their lives in road accidents across the country. Despite the rising trend of road mortality rate during the period, the number matches the same figure of the corresponding period of last year.
Data show 3,854 of the deadly accidents happened on intercity roads. Urban and rural roads claimed 1,435 and 375 victims respectively.
Gender-wise, 4,578 of victims were men and 1,255 were women.
Fars topped the provinces with 474 deaths, followed by Tehran at 417 and Kerman with 396 deaths.
A closer look at the numbers shows road fatality rate in Fars was down 6% compared with the period of last year. The number dropped from 504 to 474.
Figures in Tehran also show a 5% fall, from 439 road deaths reported last year to 417 this year.
Unfortunately, the death rate in Kerman shows a 5.3% rise, from 376 a year ago to 396.
Ilam, Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad and Zanjan provinces had the lowest fatality rates respectively with 40, 81 and 82 deaths recorded in the four months.
Among the three, the death rate in Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad shows a 2.5% rise. During the same period of last year, 79 road deaths were reported in the western province.
Ilam and Zanjan reported a respective decline of 13% and 15.5% in the number of recorded road fatalities.
In the year before, 46 and 97 people lost their lives in road accidents in Ilam and Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari provinces respectively.
Traffic Police have announced that sleep deprivation, fatigue, speeding, overtaking from the wrong side, running a red light, talking on cellphone, text messaging and munching behind the wheel, as well as low-quality vehicles and roads, are the main road killers.
Fatal Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcyclists and their dangerous driving habits also contribute to the high number of road victims.
Mohsen Pourseyyed-Aqaei, managing director of Transportation and Traffic Organization of Tehran Municipality, said on Saturday that over 25% of fatal road crashes in the main thoroughfares of the capital are due to the violations of motorcyclists.
"Measures have been taken to ease the bitter rate of fatality among motorcyclists, including the identification of risk-prone areas along the main roads and Traffic Police's close monitoring of these areas. However, the measures will not pay off until the cyclists themselves start to drive more lawfully," he said.
Further Measures
In another effort to assert effective control on road mishaps, traffic surveillance cameras are being installed in high-risk spots along the roads in northern provinces.
According to Teymour Hosseini, a senior traffic police official, in addition to speed bumps used in the region "modern technology used in surveillance cameras would help officers curb road accidents".
Announcing that the installation of cameras is underway and will be completed soon, Hosseini noted that smart facilities can help the traffic police curb the road mortality rate and save people's lives.
