TEHRAN – Distracted driving was the main cause of traffic-related accidents being responsible for 34 percent of the crashes happened during the Iranian calendar month of Khordad (May 22-June 21), Nader Rahmani, a senior traffic police official has said. With a share of 20.8 percent, driving at an unsafe speed was the second major cause of road accidents happened in the country during the last month of spring, he explained.

Running in the wrong lane with a share of 13.6 percent and failing to yield the right of way to other vehicles with a share of 12.2 percent ranked third and fourth, respectively, he noted.

He went on to say that drowsy driving also was the fifth cause of car crashes with a share of 5.1 percent. Reckless lane changes with 2.5 percent, failure to control the vehicle with 1.7 percent, and wrong way driving with 1.3 percent have also contributed to road crashes in the past month, he concluded.

Traffic police chief Seyed Kamal Hadianfar has said that road crash casualties amounted to 3,863 in the country during the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21).

He explained that during the first two months of this year, 2,584 people have lost their lives due to road accidents, which means that some 25 people get killed immediately at the crash scene each day, while the number increases to 41 taking the deaths happening on the way to hospitals into account.

Nearly 1.25 million people die in road crashes each year, on average 3,287 deaths a day. An additional 20-50 million are injured or disabled. More than half of all road traffic deaths occur among young adults ages 15-44.

FB/MG