Between January and October, 426,378 road accidents happened in
China, with 87,218 people killed and 391,752 people injured,
causing direct property losses of more than 2 billion yuan (US$244
million), according to the latest figures from Chinese Ministry of
Public Security (MPS) in Beijing Friday.
The MPS said though the number of road accidents, people injured
and direct property losses declined compared with same period last
year, the number of people killed rose by 1,618.
In October alone, China's traffic police handled 43,982 cases of
road accidents, among which 9,555 people were killed and
44,400people injured, causing direct property losses of 165 million
yuan (US$19.9 million), the MPS figures revealed, saying the death
toll rose by one percent year-on-year.
October's figures show that small passenger cars are the main
killers in road traffic accident with a death toll accounting for
19.3 percent of the total.
Fatal accidents usually occur between 6 pm to 9 pm., making up
20.9 percent of the total, the MPS figures added.
The MPS urged local public security departments to further
publicize the importance of traffic security and urged all Chinese
people to join in the traffic regulation efforts.
(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2004)