TEHRAN — Some 13,874 people were killed in road accidents over the first 10 months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2017-January 20, 2018).

According to Iran’s forensics organization, men constituted 10,889 of the deaths over the aforesaid period, Fars news agency reported on Saturday.  

More than 9,000 of the deaths occurred on the main roads. Provinces of Fars, Tehran and Khorasan Razavi hit the record for the highest number of road fatalities while provinces of Ilam, Ardebil and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad were the regions with the least fatality rate. 

The report indicates that over the tenth calendar month of Day (December 22, 2017-January 20, 2018) some 1,077 individuals lost their lives in road accidents, one fifth of whom were women. 

Furthermore, an additional 287,028 people were injured or disabled in road crashes over the same 10-month period. Once again men outnumber women with 205,859 men sustaining injuries in accidents. 

However, injuries reduced in number by 0.3 percent compared to the corresponding period last year. 

While the recent plane crash of Tehran-Yasouj with 66 people on board rehashed some painful and traumatic memories of the past plane crashes in the country by going through the records it is easy to deduce that road accidents takes thousands of more lives every year compared to the plane crashes.

Once a plane crashes the news would instantly go viral as some tens of people are died together. However, as per the reports by Iran’s forensics organization since 2011 only 104 were killed in plane crashes in Iran while 120,413 traffic-related deaths are reported over the same period. Sadly some 2 million were injured or disabled over the 7-year-period. 

On average every half an hour one dies in a road crash and road accidents are the third leading causes of death in Iran, Fars news agency reported on December 12, 2017. 

How to prevent 
 
Globally half the people who gets killed in accidents are young. According to World Health Organization (WHO) people aged between 15 and 44 years account for 48 percent of global road traffic deaths.

Moreover, men are most likely to die in accidents than women. About three quarters (73 percent) of all road traffic deaths occur among young males under the age of 25 years

It is no rocket science: speeding, driving under influence of alcohol or other substances, nonuse of helmet and seatbelt, distracted driving, unsafe road and infrastructure, and unsafe vehicles are the main causes of accidents. 

Governments need to take action to address road safety in a holistic manner and this requires involvement from multiple sectors such as transport, police, health, education, and actions that address the safety of roads, vehicles, and road users.

Effective interventions include designing safer infrastructure and incorporating road safety features into land-use and transport planning, improving the safety features of vehicles, improving post-crash care for victims of road accidents, setting and enforcing laws relating to key risks, and raising public awareness.

The aircrafts in Iran might be old, but there is something seriously wrong with the driving culture, as well as road and vehicle safety in the country which needs to be tackled. 

MQ/MG