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Leave it to Iran to punish people in a rational, proportionate to the crime way...

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"Iran's answer to dangerous drivers: flog them

Last updated at 18:25pm on 22nd April 2008

Dangerous drivers in Iran face being flogged under a tough new law that comes into effect next month.

 

Traffic chiefs hope the draconian measures will help reduce the bloodshed on Iran's highways, which are among the world's most dangerous.

Road accidents have claimed at least 100,000 lives in the past five years.

A Tehran driver, in a Hillman Imp-based Peykan, faces flogging if he drives dangerously

"Drivers who commit dangerous acts will be referred to court for harming public order and the court can sentence violators to three months to a year in jail or 74 lashes," said Iran's traffic police chief, Mohammad Rouyanian.

The Iranian authorities have until now penalised bad drivers with a fine, seizing their driving licence or confiscating their vehicles.

The congested roads in Tehran, Iran's sprawling capital of 12 million people, are especially notorious.

Few motorists bother with seat belts and few motorcyclists wear crash helmets.

Despite surveillance cameras and police patrols, drivers often speed and overtake on the wrong side of the road. Recklessness, speeding and road unworthy vehicles account for most accidents.

Drink driving is less of a problem because alcohol is forbidden in the Islamic Republic, although it is available on the black market.

The majority of cars on Iran's roads are home-produced ancient Peykans, which are identical twins of the extinct and inefficient British Hillman Hunter.

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This flogging was delivered for abusing alcohol and having sex outside marriage

The car was originally designed and manufactured by the British Rootes Group which began exporting the vehicles in kit form in 1967.

Mahmoud Khayami, owner of the Iran Khodro company and factory, had accurately predicted that Iran was in need of a simple "no-frills" automobile within the price range of ordinary people.

In 1979, after Peugeot took over the Rootes company after it collapsed under the ownership of Chrysler Europe, production in Britain stopped and Peykans began being built from scratch.

The car - always based on the 1966 Hillman Imp - remained in full-scale manufacture under Peugeot license until 2005.

The Samand, commonly referred to as the "New Paykan", is currently being produced by Iran Khodro as a modern, more fuel-efficient substitute.

The Paykan's production line has now been moved to the Khartoum Transportation Company in Sudan, while auto-parts production for the Paykan still continues by third party manufacturers in Iran. "