Iranian road traffic injury project: assessment of road traffic injuries in Iran in 2012

Objective: To assess the status of road traffic injuries in Iran. Methods: The retrospective study was conducted in Iran and comprised all reported traffic accidents from March 2011 to March 2012 that were recorded in the national traffic accident database. The information collected included demographic data specific to road traffic accidents and injuries. The data was summarised and presented using frequencies and percentages. Results: There were a total of 452192 road traffic accidents with 252246 victims in the one-year period. The highest number of accidents, 110348(47%), involved individuals in the 15-30 year age group. Among the gender-identified injured, 206171(78.4%) were male and 56639 (21.6%) were female. Besides, 298750(73.2%) accidents took place between 6am and 6pm. In terms of location, the province of Semnan had the highest rates of injury and death (913 per 100000 and 41per 100000, respectively), while the lowest rate of injury was in Alborz (131 per 100000) and lowest rate of death was in Tehran (5 per 100000). The majority of accidents 301516(66.7%) occurred on inner city roads. Although the total number of victims in inner city roads (180893) was higher than outer the city roads (2.2: 1), the number of deaths (8615) on outer roads was higher (3: 1). Conclusion: Road traffic injuries placed a heavy burden on the Iranian population, especially on young men. Comprehensive strategies and policies must be implemented for effective prevention of road accidents in Iran.