The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 680 people are killed and more than 45,000 injured every day on China’s roads.

The WHO, the World Bank, and China’s ministries of health and public security officially released the first Chinese-language edition of the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention on Monday in Beijing.

The publication explores the main causes of road traffic injury and offers recommendations for improving safety.

It provides valuable guidance for China to reduce such problems as traffic jams and accidents, which are increasing alongside the country’s fast economic growth, said Wang Jinbiao, deputy director of the Ministry of Public Security’s Traffic Administration Bureau.

The huge death toll in China is part of the global epidemic of traffic incidents that account for the deaths of some 1.2 million men, women, and children each year, the report says.

The WHO predicts that road traffic fatalities in China will increase to almost half a million per year by 2020 unless urgent action is taken. Injuries from road accidents are already the leading cause of death among people 15 to 45 years old.

Official Chinese statistics put the daily death toll at about 285 people per day in 2002 and 2003, compared with the estimated 680 of the WHO, owing to differences in methods of calculation.

Wang stated that drivers who violate traffic rules cause most collisions, leading to 86.3 percent of traffic deaths and 77.3 percent of injuries.

Poor road conditions, inadequate response measures and a lack of safety precautions contribute to the high fatality rate, according to the report. Rural residents, together with farmers-turned workers and self-employed business people in urban areas, account for 39.2 percent of people killed on the road.

Pedestrians are the most frequent victims.

In addition to the loss of human lives, poor road safety has an enormous economic impact.

Annual direct and indirect costs have been estimated at US$12 billion to US$21 billion, approximately 1.5 percent of China’s GDP, the report notes.

The Chinese government has made road safety a priority. It has created a 15-ministry committee under the State Council and introduced China’s first road traffic safety legislation, replacing the Administrative Regulations on Traffic Control that had been in place since 1986.

The new law went into effect on May 1, and local governments are currently working out methods of implementation.

The law, when fully implemented and enforced, has the potential to reduce road traffic injuries significantly, the WHO said.

The WHO called on the government to embrace and implement other recommendations contained in the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention. The organization declared that it is ready to offer assistance and expertise as China implements changes.

The report suggests that injuries can be effectively reduced through such simple and inexpensive strategies as requiring the use of seatbelts for drivers and passengers, and helmets for motorcyclists.

Other possible measures include legislation and enforcement of speed limits and drunk driving statutes, and increasing the visibility of vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.

Both the health and public security ministries have promised to do better to reduce traffic deaths.

(China Daily October 12, 2004)