TEHRAN – The last month of summer is the deadliest month for auto accidents in Iran, Head of Iranian Traffic Police Brigadier General Taqi Mehri said on Saturday.

Last year in the month of Shahrivar (August 23rd– September 22nd) car crashes took the lives of over 1800 Iranian citizens, leaving 31,000 others injured.

Last Iranian calendar year ended on March 21, 2014.

Since many people choose to travel and take vacations in the summer season, the general said, the number of road related fatalities are high during this period and particularly the highest in the last month of summer.

Statistics show that on average, 45 people lose their lives in road accidents every day in Iran, Mehri reported, while the number for last Shahrivar was 58.

Mehri blamed over speeding, reckless driving, and deviation from the road for 66 percent of car accidents during the last month of summer.

He named driver fatigue and sleepiness contributing factors for the 33 percent of auto fatalities in Iran and recommended drivers to pull over and take breaks every couple of hours.

The head of traffic police asked summer travelers to take effective measures to minimize the risk of nighttime driving notably between the hours of 8 P.M. to midnight when most car accidents occur.

MG/OS