Iran remains on the list of countries with a high number of casualties in road accidents. Although the figure has declined from the 28,000 some years ago there are nearly 16,000 traffic deaths annually, which is still high. There are 300,000 injuries/disabilities annually.
Official reports said 15,932 people lost their lives in traffic accidents last year, down 3.9% y-o-y.
Two thirds (65%) of all traffic accidents occurred on suburban roads and 27.3% on urban roads. Around 7% of accidents were registered on rural roads, reported Financial Tribune.
Measures such as installing new surveillance cameras on urban and intercity roads have helped curb the high rate of traffic accidents, casualties, and offences.
Traffic violation categories include jumping a traffic light, illegal overtaking, speeding, zigzagging and driving in reverse on highways, talking on the cell phone behind the wheel, entering no-entry areas, unauthorised entry in the special traffic zones, not wearing a seat belt and driving without a valid licence.
In 2016, stiffer traffic penalties were imposed. The maximum traffic penalty was doubled from IRR2 million (US$61.6) to IRR4 million.
The police are unanimous that the penalty point system introduced in the 2011 traffic law as a deterrent against reckless driving has been far more effective than heavy fines for traffic offences.
Under the system, each traffic violation chalks up a certain number of penalty points. For instance, driving under the influence of alcohol and dangerous speeding leads to 10 penalty points each. If the total points on a driver’s record equal or exceed 30, the court suspends the person’s licence for three months. If a driver gets more than 25 negative points the second time, the licence is suspended for six months. If the offender commits yet another transgression with 20 negative points, they are banned from driving for a year. M
IRR1,000 = US$0.03