157 dead in four days; traffic accidents cost "8 percent of GDP"

The Iranian Traffic Police has announced that the country will suffer extensive direct and indirect damage due to the numerous accidents in Iran, as "accidents" are irreparable.

Kamal Hadianfar, head of the Traffic Police, told "Hamshahri Online" that the direct and indirect loss to the country due to each death caused by an accident is 5.4 billion Tomans, and the loss caused by traffic accidents is "equivalent to 8 percent of Iran's gross national product."

The head of Iran's traffic police, an institution that is one of the main custodians of vehicle transportation and road travel in the country, raised a question while expressing concern about compensation for moral damages in these accidents, saying: "What organization do we have to revive a family that has been torn apart and lost due to an accident?"

According to Iranian police statistics, 157 people lost their lives in road accidents during the first four days of Nowruz travel this year.

According to the latest comprehensive statistics announced by the Iranian Forensic Medicine Organization on May 10, 2020, at least 17,000 people die annually on Iranian roads due to accidents, a shocking and very high number.

Seyyed Hadi Hashemi, the former head of Iran's traffic police, told the "Jameeh24" news website on January 27 that despite the official authorities' manipulation of the announced statistics, the number of fatalities is still high, adding: "In traffic statistics, by dividing traffic fatalities into type one and two traffic accidents and new sections, they tried not to count many deaths as traffic fatalities in order to lower the number, but this did not happen either."

On January 13, the Young Journalists' Club wrote, following the occurrence of several chain accidents with high casualties within a short period of time: "The story of terrible accidents that even lead to public mourning seems to have no end, and from time to time we witness bloody accidents on the country's roads, which cause grief for many families."

Hadianfar also said on January 13, "Nearly two people are killed every hour in road accidents in Iran," and "32 percent of traffic accident deaths are related to vehicle occupants who are not wearing seat belts, 25 percent are drivers who cause their own and others' deaths, motorcyclists with 24 percent, and pedestrians with 19 percent are among the other accident fatalities."