China reports fewer traffic violations, road accidents

Beijing, Feb 1 (IANS) China in January reported a decline of traffic violations and road accidents, with the number of deaths from running traffic lights and overspeeding falling.

The toll from running traffic lights and overspeeding fell 13 percent and 71 percent, respectively, year-on-year, Xinhua cited the Traffic Management Bureau under the ministry of public security as saying.

The ministry said there were about 1.37 million cases of ignoring traffic lights in January, marking a 40 percent drop year-on-year.

There were 285,000 cases where cars were overspeeding, representing a 32.5 percent fall year-on-year.

There were 14,000 cases of improper use of licence plates during the month, which was a 71.5 percent drop compared to the same period last year.

The number of violations dropped due to revised rules, which came into force Jan 1, the ministry said.

Under the revision, running yellow lights will result in six penalty points, doubling the previous punishment.

If a driver’s penalty points add up to 12 or more within 12 months, he or she is required to attend a seven-day training session and take a written exam before getting back behind the wheel.

At the end of 2012, the number of people licensed to drive cars in China exceeded 200 million, an increase of 26.47 million year-on-year.

IANS 2013-02-01 17:30:01