TEHRAN (Iran News) –Traffic accidents in Iran have claimed the lives of at least 17,000 people and left more than 334,000 people wounded over the past ten months, according to the latest figures released by the Forensic Medicine Organization of Iran.
“In general, during the first ten months of this year, 17,177 people died in Iran due to traffic accidents. Men have a greater share in the number of deaths. Among the deaths this year, 13,569 were men and the rest were women,” according to the report.
The report serves as a reminder for holidaymakers during the Persian New Year, or Nowruz which starts on March 20, when millions of Iranians hit the roads countrywide.
Meanwhile, Abolfazl Moussavipour, the head of Tehran’s traffic police, said the capital city witnessed a 13 percent rise in the number of fatalities on the roads during the said period.
Iran has one of the highest death tolls from road accidents in the world, mainly due to poor road infrastructure and reckless driving.
The data shows that in the period from 2001 to 2013, the number of casualties caused by traffic accidents was on the decline, but the diminishing trend has stopped since then.
- source : IFP
