Highway accident death tolls arouse public concern ( 2003-11-29 14:45) (Xinhua) China witnesses a large
number of deaths caused by highway accidents every year, which has aroused great
concern among the public.
In the first 10 months of this year, the number of highway accidents was
566,000, with a death toll of 85,600, according to the Ministry of Public
Security.
Last year, 770,000 highway accidents occurred across the country, claiming
109,000 lives.
The ministry has called for greater attention to be paid to the huge number
of highway accidents and deaths, noting that China has become one of the
countries with the highest number of highway accidents in the world.
The number of vehicles running on Chinese highways accounts for a mere 1.9
percent of the world's total, but the number of highway deaths is 15 percent of
the total, according to official figures.
Beginning in 2004, the Ministry of Communications plans to launch a major
highway safety promotion program, by rebuilding or improving roads with poor
traffic conditions and safety flaws.
Cuurently, local highway authorities are investigating road conditions, and
trying to find out all the hidden dangers along 300,000 kilometers of poor
highways.
The length of China's highways totals 1,758,000 kilomters, including 25,000
kilometers of expressways.
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