Road accidents drop by 10.1% in 2009

Road accidents decreased by 10.1 percent in 2009 compared with the previous year, and the death toll and number of injured from road accidents dropped by 7.8 percent and 9.8 percent respectively, the Ministry of Public Security said Friday.

A total of 238,000 road accidents were reported in 2009, leaving 67,759 dead and 275,125 wounded, according to the ministry.

Road accidents caused 910 million yuan (133 million U.S. dollars) in direct property damages, said the ministry.

Deaths caused by speeding, drink driving and fatigue driving declined noticeably, down by 10.1 percent, 13 percent and 15.2 percent respectively compared to 2008, it said.

The number of drink driving deaths decreased by 39.6 percent compared with the same period in 2008, the ministry said this was due to its nationwide campaign to root out drink-driving launched in August.

However, the death toll of weather-related accidents increased by 13.3 percent in the second half year of 2009 due to frequent rain, fog and snow, it said.

In another development, the ministry's fire department said a total of 127,000 fire accidents killed 1,076 and injured 580 in 2009, respectively down by 4.5 percent, 22.3 percent and 15.7 percent from the previous year.

Source: Xinhua