A Car accident in Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan, 2012. Photo: Rudaw
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— More than 4,400 vehicle collisions occurred in Iraqi Kurdistan Region during 2019, resulting in the deaths of 575 people, spokesperson for the Kurdistan General Traffic Directorate Asaad Karim said on Friday.
Karim said that around 6,800 people were also injured.
“Only in the past year, more than 2,380,000 tickets were given to drivers in Kurdistan Region for using mobile phones while driving, taking the number one spot for both tickets and accident causes,” Karim said.
Karum also said that more than 153,000 new cars were registered in Kurdistan Region last year, raised the total number of cars in the Region to an estimated 1,740,000.
Traffic accidents claimed the lives of 180 people in Sulaimani province in 2019, according to numbers just released by government officials.
The main causes of death and injury on Iraqi Kurdistan’s roads are speeding, failure to wear seat belts, aggressive road behavior and driving aggressively and without heeding road signs, according to a police report published in 2013.
Night driving in Kurdistan is hazardous, especially between the main cities of Erbil, Duhok and Sulaimani. Cars share the same narrow road – where in places overtaking becomes extremely hazardous.
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