Iran’s traffic police chief gives automakers an ultimatum
Published: Thursday, August 21, 2008
00:07GMT—8:07PM/EST
IRAN – AUTOMAKERS – WARNING
Washington, 20 August (IranVNC)—The head of Iran’s traffic police, Mohammad Royanian, has said that he considers the low safety standards of some automobiles a factor in the high number of car accidents in that country.
In an unprecedented move, he accused domestic auto manufacturers of neglecting safety standards in their products without naming them.
He stressed that if automakers did not improve their safety record by the end of the year, he would inform the public of those car models that were unsafe.
Unsafe automobiles are the leading cause of the growing number of accidents in Iran and the police will give auto manufacturers until the end of the year to correct this problem, the semi-official ISNA news agency reports.
"In the event that structural weaknesses are not remedied by the end of the Persian year [March 21], the names of unsafe cars will be publically announced so that buyers may avoid those particular makes," Royanian said at a news conference.
On average, there are 400,000 car accidents in Iran every year, resulting in 28,000 fatalities.
Royanian said that the structural weakness of the roof of some cars, due to bad manufacturing, is such that if the car flips over it will kill all the passengers. This, together with substandard, old brakes which lack Anti-lock Brake Systems [ABS], multiplies the severity of car accidents.
Regarding motorcycle accidents, he said that when cheap motorcycles without safety features are available to young people, a situation arises in which 20 percent of road accident fatalities are motorcyclists, and this figure rises to 40% in some provinces.
Source: ISNA in Persian
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(Original article written in Persian.)