By Liu Chang (China
Daily)
Updated: 2004-10-29 00:42
Traffic safety in
Beijing has improved since theRoad Traffic
Safety Law went into effect
in May, say top traffic officials.
During the first
nine months this year, a total of 1,139 people were killed in
1,029 traffic accidents in Beijing, said the Beijing Public
Security Bureau of Traffic Administration yesterday.
The two figures
marked decreases of 8.8 per cent and 9.3 per cent compared with
the same period last year.
"This is the
first ever decrease in the death toll in traffic accidents after
continuous increases in recent years," Wang Li,
vice-director of the bureau, said yesterday.
Wang attributed the
improvement to the adoption of the Road Traffic Safety Law.
"The adoption
of the law has effectively enhanced residents' sense of abiding
by it as there was no such a law in the past," she
said.
Wang made the
remarks yesterday in Beijing.
Meanwhile,
statistics showed that during the five months by October 20, a
total of 2,210 drunk drivers were detained,
while the figure of the same period last year was 7,540.
Some 4,100 drivers
were caught driving without a licence, down from 4,900 the year
before.
Meanwhile, some
50,000 tickets were handed out this year for such offenses as
passing illegally, speeding and overloads, down from the 360,000
last year, sources said.
"As other
factors remain the same this year with that of last year, the
improvement reflects the law's effectiveness as the law has made
punishment heavier," Wang said.
According to the
official, in the past, to overload vehicles was fined 5 yuan (60
US cents) but now the penalty is between 200 yuan (US$24) to
2,000 yuan (US$240).
"Driving
licence can also be revoked for
overloading," she said.
But Wang pointed
out that there are still problems in law
enforcement.
"There is
conflict between the Road Traffic Safety Law and the current
insurance law," she said.
According to the
Road Traffic Safety Law, the compulsory third party insurance
should pay compensation to victims in traffic accidents between
motor vehicles and pedestrians or non-motorized vehicles.
But the current
insurance rules say that only the insurance company has to pay
only when the insured driver is at fault..
"But I think
the latest Road Traffic Safety Law should be given
priority in enforcement," she said.
"Compulsory
insurance is not the only solution to aiding victims in traffic
accidents," Jia Haimao, vice-chairman of the People's
Insurance Company of China Property and Casualty Company Ltd,
said yesterday.
Jia urged the
government to draft relevant rules related to compulsory third
party insurance as soon as possible.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-10/29/content_386642.htm
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