Head of Traffic Police: We Will Be Dealing with Peykan and Peugeot for the Next 30 Years

The head of the traffic police criticized the quality of domestic vehicles and the current state of the automobile industry, which is merely assembly work, saying that the police will not back down from their positions regarding the safety of domestically produced vehicles.

Regarding the persistent problem of domestically produced vehicles for extended periods, he said that “if unsafe vehicle production is not stopped right now, we will be dealing with it for 20 to 30 years, just as we are still dealing with Peykan,” and the story of Peugeot will continue for another 30 years.

Kamal Hadiyanfar added: “Not only regarding domestically produced vehicles, but also regarding imported vehicles, the police monitor their safety with sensitivity, and if a vehicle does not have the necessary safety standards, we will certainly prevent its registration.”

He said he responded to some non-expert statements in this field and believes that some of these statements about domestic vehicles are made out of ignorance, while others are made for personal gain.

The head of traffic police, stating that we witness horrific accidents daily, emphasized that we have a car fire or explosion roughly every two to three days among domestic vehicles, and we really cannot and do not want to broadcast images of these accidents in the media. However, officials and automakers who are aware of the situation and know how much damage and accidents occur daily should think about people’s lives and property.

The head of traffic police added: “In just one parking lot, from accidents whose documentation we submitted to Parliament, there were 107 vehicles, and among these 107 vehicles that were all hit from the front, which is the appropriate angle of impact, the airbags of 97 vehicles, or about 98 percent of the airbags, failed to deploy.”

He also added that some automakers claim that the reason the airbag did not deploy is because the driver locked it, stating that “the driver’s airbag will definitely deploy and does not have a manual or optional mode, and in the cases I mentioned, even the driver’s airbag did not deploy.”

Hadiyanfar, referring to the positions taken by some officials and parliamentary representatives regarding criticism of the quality of domestically produced vehicles or opposition to the import of quality foreign vehicles, also said that this group certainly has financial benefits from the production of domestic vehicles, and the police’s emphasis on quality improvement causes financial losses to them and their groups.

Annually, approximately 12,000 Iranians lose their lives in traffic accidents, and more than 300,000 people are also injured or disabled as a result of accidents.

Source: Voice of America