Over 2.5 million smog-inducing vehicles and dilapidated two-wheelers were fined in 11 months to Feb. 19 in Tehran for violating the air pollution reduction scheme, head of the legal department of the Traffic Police said.
For commuting in Tehran, vehicles and motorbikes must go through technical inspection tests. Those disregarding the rule are fined.
Colonel Mohammad Tarahomi said, “An 2.69 million drivers were fined for infringing the regulations since the beginning of the current Iranian year (ends on March 20). Bulk of the traffic tickets were issued after the launch of Air Pollution Reduction (APR) scheme in November 2018,” IRNA reported.
Tarahomi noted, "Since the APR scheme was launched, more than one million cars were fined in Tehran for not taking their vehicles for the mandatory auto technical inspections.”
Before the scheme was introduced by Tehran Municipality, Traffic Police was a bit lenient with drivers of old and rickety cars and smoke-belching diesel-powered heavy vehicles.
As per the scheme, old cars have been banned in the sprawling city. Violators are fined in the latest attempt at improving the worsening air quality.
All four and two-wheelers in the metropolis must go through the inspections and acquire technical conformity papers that show the vehicle meets the required automotive and emission standards.
Sharing Data
Other than Tehran many cities in Iran are also struggling with worsening air pollution blamed largely on exhaust fumes from old cars and heavy-duty vehicles running up and down on highways and the crowded streets with little regard for plans introduced by the government and urban planners for improving the dirty air.
Highlighting the necessity of applying stringent traffic rules in all metropolises struggling with air pollution, Tarahomi called on the provincial municipal bodies to crack down on old and dilapidated cars.
He called on the municipalities to share data they gather through surveillance cameras with the Traffic Police. In addition to Law Enforcement Forces, municipal bodies have installed monitoring devices in major cities.
Tarahomi says around 1.5 million vehicles and 9.5 million motorcycles have outlived their usefulness in Iran and need to be dumped. According to the police, last October the total number of vehicles in Iran had reached 33 million.
