TEHRAN (Iran News) –traffic-related accidents have claimed the lives of 16,778 Iranians during the past [Iranian calendar] year (March 2021- March 2022), which shows an increase of 9 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the Legal Medicine Organization.

Of the total casualties of the accidents, 13,467 were men and 3,311 were women.

In the aforementioned period, the highest casualty rates were related to the provinces of Fars, Tehran, and Sistan-Baluchestan, respectively, and the lowest in Ilam, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, Ardebil, and Kohgiluyeh-Boyerahmad.

Some 317,120 people were injured in traffic accidents and referred to forensic medicine centers, which increased by 14.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

One person dies in a road accident every half hour in Iran, taking the annual death toll to 17,000, the Legal Medicine Organization announced on July 1.

According to Majlis [Iranian parliament] Research Center, the costs of road crashes amount to 8 percent of Iran’s gross domestic product.

Car crashes responsible for 1.3m deaths annually

According to the World Health Organization, every year the lives of approximately 1.3 million people are cut short as a result of a road traffic crash. Between 20 and 50 million more people suffer non-fatal injuries, with many incurring a disability as a result of their injury.

Road traffic injuries cause considerable economic losses to individuals, their families, and to nations as a whole. Road traffic crashes cost most countries 3% of their gross domestic product.

More than half of all road traffic deaths are among vulnerable road users including, pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.

Some 93% of the world’s fatalities on the roads occur in low- and middle-income countries, even though these countries have approximately 60 percent of the world’s vehicles.

Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5-29 years.