24% Increase in Road Accident Victims in Iran During Nowruz 97

The Medical Examiner's Organization reported a more than 24% increase in the number of victims of road accidents in Iran during Nowruz 97. The public relations office of the Medical Examiner's Organization of Iran announced that from March 15, 2018, to April 4, 2018, which is considered the Nowruz holiday period, "1,034 people" were killed in road accidents across the country. According to this report, this statistic means that during this period, "on average, 51.7 people" were killed daily in road accidents, which represents a 24.2% increase compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, Mohammad Hossein Hamidi, head of Iran's Road Police, had previously stated that the death toll in road accidents during Nowruz 97 had only increased by five percent. According to the Medical Examiner's Organization's report, during this year's Nowruz, 70.8% of the road accident fatalities were related to intercity roads with 732 victims, 21.2% on urban roads with 219 victims, 7.9% on rural dirt roads with 82 victims, and the location of the accident was unknown in 0.1% of cases with one victim. As analyzed by the Medical Examiner's Organization, the number of accident victims on intercity roads increased by 20.1%, urban roads by 29.9%, and rural dirt roads by 56.5%. The highest fatal accidents occurred on the 10th and 13th of Farvardin, each with 65 victims, and on the 28th of Esfand with 61 victims, while the lowest fatal accidents occurred on the 15th of Farvardin with 34 deaths, the 6th of Farvardin with 36 deaths, and the 9th of Farvardin with 44 deaths. Fars province with 99 and Kerman with 75 victims had the highest number of fatalities, while Ardabil province with six and Bushehr with ten had the lowest number of accident-related deaths during this year's Nowruz. Road accidents in Iran typically peak during the Nowruz holidays, as evidenced by the Medical Examiner's Organization's statistics, which show that over the past ten years, 11,870 people have been killed in Nowruz accidents. The highest Nowruz death toll until the end of the 13th of Farvardin was in 2008, which left 1,535 dead. Iran is one of the world's most dangerous countries in terms of driving. According to a report published by the Central Insurance Research Institute of Iran, among 190 countries, Iran has the highest road mortality rate after the African country of Sierra Leone. Previously, the Iranian Insurance Syndicate announced that the compensation payments for 874 individuals killed during the Nowruz trips of 2017 cost insurance companies over 183 billion tomans. The rate of road accidents in Iran is so high that on Farvardin 8 of this year, Ayatollah Jafar Subhani, a religious authority, criticized the media for encouraging people to travel during these days due to the high casualties from road accidents. Mr. Jafar Subhani stated: "During these days, people should stay at home and engage in family visits and helping the poor, and only undertake necessary travels."