TEHRAN — Over the Iranian New Year vacation (starting on March 21) holiday trips grew by 12 percent and road casualties have decreased comparatively, deputy police chief Eskandar Momeni said on Monday.

Compared to the same period last year the number of holiday trips increased and provinces of Mazandaran, Gilan, Qom, Fars, and Khorasan Razavi are the top five destinations for trips, Momeni added. 

The number of road crashes set the record high on the 4th and 5th days of the holidays (falling on March 24-25), Momeni regretted, adding, roads leading to the provinces of Isfahan, Kerman, Khuzestan and Khorasan Razavi have had the highest number of accidents over the past few days since the beginning of the holidays. 

However, Momeni didn’t provide any details on the number of road casualties over the first half of the holidays. 

He further highlighted that one person dies every 58 minutes during the holidays and that speeding, drowsy driving, reckless overtaking and lane changes are the main causes of the road accidents. 

Some 250 individuals died in road accidents last year over the holidays (March 21- April 2, 2017), said Mohammad Hossein Hamidi, a high-ranking Traffic Police official. Head of Iran’s Emergency Medical Services, Pir Hossein Kulivand, also said that some 22,000 persons were injured in accidents over the corresponding period. 

MQ/MQ