Liu Jiangang, one of the nine people who violated traffic laws in Harbin, northeastern Heilongjiang Province, was sentenced to death, and the rest were sentenced to one and-a-half years to 15 years in prison.
Liu was also deprived of his political rights for life for the intentional killing of a pedestrian and the breaking traffic laws.
Liu ran down a person in 1993, but drove away without confessing to local police or trying to help the person, which resulted in the death of the victim.
The other eight traffic law breakers caused accidents because of drunk driving or driving without a license. The victims were either killed or injured.
Official statistics show that over 3,800 traffic accidents in the city last year resulted in 732 deaths, over 3,000 injuries and a direct economic loss of nearly 20 million yuan (US$2.4 million), showing a rise in 1999. Negligence remains to be the main reason for the serious accidents.
(Xinhua 01/19/2001)
