TEHRAN — Four famous former Iranian footballers were introduced as traffic police ambassadors.

Ali Daei, Farshad Pious, Arash Borhani, and Reza Enayati were introduced as traffic police ambassadors over a ceremony which was held in Tehran on Thursday in memory of road traffic victims. 

During the ceremony, Traffic Police Chief Taqi Mehri said the mentioned football players pledged to both fully conform to regulations and develop a traffic safety culture in the country. 

“To respect those I love and who love me I drive safely; this has to become our motto [in driving],” YJC quoted Mehri as saying. 

“Since the year (13)77 (falling on 1998) that we managed to collect road casualty reports some 402,259 were injured and about 4.6 million lost their lives in road crashes in Iran which is a big number and has imposed great costs to the country,” Mehri regretted. 

Some 30 to 40 percent of those hospitalized are the victims of road crashes, he said, adding, based on the figures revealed by the forensics 43 individuals die every day in road accidents half of which pass away at the scene. 

While bad road conditions and cars with poor safety features play an important role in accidents, human factors accounts for more than half of the accidents. Distracted drivers are the top cause of car accidents in many countries. 

A distracted driver is a motorist that diverts his or her attention from the road, usually to talk on a cell phone, send a text message or eat food. Speeding, night driving, unsafe lane changes, tailgating, drowsy driving, and street racing are only some of the examples of reckless driving which normally ends in irreversible damages. 

Driving safe, encouraging others to do so, and keeping in mind that our unsafe driving would not only endanger us but also other drivers or even pedestrians would certainly result in safer roads and less casualties. 

MQ/MG