Road toll down by 7.9pc but outlook remains gloomy
The mainland's roads remained the most hazardous in the world in the first half of the year, and low safety awareness and poor road conditions suggest little prospect for improvement, the Ministry of Public Security said yesterday.
Ministry spokesman Wu He- ping said 41,933 people were killed in 190,270 traffic accidents in the first half, equivalent to 230 deaths on China's roads each day.
But Mr Wu said the death toll had declined by 7.9 per cent and the number of road accidents was down by 14 per cent from the same period last year.
Wang Jinbiao , a deputy director of the ministry's traffic supervision bureau, said a general lack of road safety awareness, speeding and overloading on public transport were to blame.
Mr Wang said the carnage on the roads continued despite greater efforts to ban unroadworthy vehicles, repair hazardous sections of roads and educate drivers about the importance of obeying traffic rules. 'Although we have seen some achievements, our country's road safety situation is still bleak,' he said. Mr Wang said July was always a dangerous month on the roads, with hot weather sapping drivers' energy and tourists increasing the number of vehicles.
The ministry said accident-prevention campaigns were under way in Fujian , Hubei , Hunan , Guangxi , Guangdong, Chongqing , Sichuan , Guizhou and Yunnan .
The campaigns will entail tougher punishment for those who break traffic rules, more frequent vehicle and road safety checks and educational programmes.
According to official figures, about 456,000 traffic accidents caused 99,088 deaths last year, equal to about 271 deaths a day.
China's roads are regarded as among the most dangerous, with the World Health Organisation saying last year Beijing could be massively underreporting road fatalities. The WHO said the real number of deaths could be twice the official figure, which was based largely on police reports, not numbers gathered from hospitals.
STILL DEADLY
China's road toll
Jan - June 06
Accidents 190,270 1 every 82 seconds
Injuries 221,838 1 every 70 seconds
Fatalities 41,933 1 every 6 minutes 13 seconds
