TEHRAN – Some 37 percent of all traffic-related deaths in the country is the share of those riding motorcycles, Ehsan Momeni, head of traffic accidents department of Tehran Traffic Police has announced.

The leading cause of fatal motorcycle crashes was reckless riding and not paying attention to the road, accounting for 30 percent of the total crashes, he lamented.

Over 27 percent of the accidents resulting in deaths of the motorcyclists occurred at 12:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., when the highest number of accidents are recorded, he further explained.

He also called on the motorcycle riders to take safety measures and not riding through the sidewalks, adding, they must wear helmets while riding and comply with the driving laws and regulations.

Reckless lane changes, not having license, lane splitting, driving wrong direction up one-way streets, carrying heavy loads which can affect the stability and handling of your motorcycles, riding more than two people on a motorcycle, running red lights, and speaking on the cell phone are among other causes of fatal motorcycles’ accidents.

According to the World Health Organization almost half of all deaths on the world’s roads are among those with the least protection – motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians.

Momeni also announced in late April that about 45 percent of all deaths caused by traffic accidents in Tehran, the capital, were related to pedestrians last year (March 2018-March 2019).

Moreover, he told Tasnim in February that Motorcycle riders are the highest contributors to road fatality being responsible for 63 percent of the accidents happened in the Iranian capital in the first 10 months of the Iranian calendar year 1397(starting on March 21, 2018).

He further regretted that 87 percent of motorcycle riders have lost their lives due to head injuries.

According to the latest data released by Iran’s Forensics Organization some 15,927 died in traffic related accident in the first eleven months of the past year. In Tehran also, some 1,221 lost their lives in car crashes.

Sadly some 341,570 also sustained injuries in accidents, the report added.

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