Corpun file 20152

Daily Telegraph, Sydney, Australia, 23 April 2008

Flogging or jail for bad driving

Agence France-Presse
From correspondents in Tehran

DRIVERS in Iran found guilty of dangerous behaviour on the roads could be sentenced to 74 lashes or several months in jail, Iran's traffic police chief says.

"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," Mohammad Rouyanian was quoted as saying by the Kayhan newspaper.

"Their vehicles will also be seized for a week," he said.

The new measure would come into effect next month.

Iranian police have until now punished offending drivers with a fine, seizing their drivers' licences or confiscating their cars.

Iran's roads are among the most dangerous in the world and road accidents have killed at least 100,000 over the past five years.

Despite a ban on drinking alcohol, surveillance cameras and police patrols planted alongside the roads, drivers are frequently seen speeding and overtaking on the wrong side of the road.

In recent years Iran has eased restrictions on the import of foreign cars and many of the urban rich use luxury cars or SUVs in the capital's usually congested highways or posh northern resorts on the Caspian coast.

Flogging is allowed under Iran's Islamic sharia law for crimes including theft and adultery even though in practice it has been used relatively infrequently in the past.

Copyright 2008 News Limited.