TEHRAN – Some 13 percent of all casualties of road traffic accidents in the country are children aged 10 or younger, Traffic Police Chief Seyed Kamal Hadianfar has said.

Nearly 1.25 million people die in road crashes each year, while Iran holds a share of 17,000 people annually, he lamented.

An additional 350,000 are injured or disabled annually; while each day some 46 people lose their lives in car crashes in the country, 7 of them are children. So, 13 percent of all road traffic deaths occur among children aged 10 or below, he regretted.

Referring to a bill on mandating the use of car seats for children under the age of 10 proposed by the traffic police, he explained that it is now brought before the Majlis [the Iranian Parliament] for the final approval. If the bill is approved, all children should necessarily use car seats for increased road safety, otherwise, in the case of any violations, the drivers would be fined.

Cars flipped onto their roof in 43 percent of accidents happened during the Iranian New Year holiday (March 21- April 5), causing serious injuries especially for children, he noted.

Using a child safety seat in the cars will definitely reduce the number of road crash casualties, he said, adding that current official punishment fine is not sufficient and must increase, which is on agenda for traffic police.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Hadianfar said that currently, there are 13 million children who are called police assistant, who contributed to reduce traffic related accidents by 18 percent last year.

Traffic police planned to reduce road crashes by 12 percent this year, and 33 responsible devices will join hands in this regard, he concluded.

According to World Health Organization, children account for 21 percent of all road traffic injury related deaths worldwide. Globally, road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death in 10–19 year olds.

The WHO 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes that road safety is a prerequisite to ensuring healthy lives, promoting well-being and making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. 

The Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020, officially proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in March 2010, seeks to save millions of lives by building road safety management capacity; improving the safety of road infrastructure; further developing the safety of vehicles; enhancing the behavior of road users; and improving post-crash response. 

FB/MG