Decision to Increase Driving Fines to Remedy Fatalities Proves Controversial

14 January 2016 | 16:34 Code : 1955587 General category

In a directive notified to the traffic police, the Rouhani administration has substantially increased driving fines in a move to reduce the number of offenses. The directive published yesterday will be in effect after legal procedures.

Decision to Increase Driving Fines to Remedy Fatalities Proves Controversial

The plan is raising the bar as high as up to $100 for offenses such as driving under the influence of narcotics or alcohol. With per capita income in Iran barely exceeding $400, many Iranians are questioning the main objective behind the directive. While several social media users in Iran are advocating the plan as the only way to prevent life-threatening offenses, a more pessimistic view, traditionally popular among Iranians, suspects the directive is a solution to boost revenues by the administration.While the controversial plan has tripled and, even for some offenses, quintupled the fines, per capita income in Iran barely exceeds $400 a month according to the latest official figures.

Experts and officials are also split by their attitude toward the move. IRGC Brigadier General Morteza Talaei who is deputy chairman of Tehran’s City Council believes there are measures that should precede any increase in the penalties.

“First, there should be measures to build a culture of good driving and then the traffic signs should be modified. In the next stage, the roads should be engineered to be safe. At the end, the law should be enforced using counteractive measures such as increased fines,” Talaei told a state TV talk show last night.

Pointing out that the official inflation rate announced by the Central Bank of Iran is 11 percent per month and 15 percent per year, Talaei said the fines should be increased based on people’s income rather than the inflation rate. “The plan is penalty-centered and should be rectified,” he added.

Hamidreza Tabatabaei, the deputy chairman of the judicial committee of the Parliament, known for his criticism of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s administration, also came on the line live in the show, slamming the plan for paving the ground for secret abuses by traffic officers.

Thousands of Iranians are killed in car accidents each year. In 2011, Iran had the highest number of deaths caused by road accidents in the world, according to a report published by the World Health Organization on road safety. Non-standard roads and vehicles, a bad driving culture and low fine rates have been blamed as the causes.