China is in the early stages of iµotorization. The road safety issues
that arise are interesting since they indicate that although a few are
unique to early motorization, many are associated with more motorized
countries such as Canada. The 1.2 billion Chinese are concentrated
in roughly the eastern third of the country. Recent economic
reforms have greatly expanded the motorized vehicle fleet to 16 million
but have done little for the road system. Bicycles dominate personal
transport and number over 300 million. There were 49,271 reported
highway fatalities in China during 1990. The fatality rate per
10,000 motor vehicles is 48, roughly 19 times that of Canada. Cyclists
and pedestrians account for about 60 percent of the fatalities. The
majority of accidents may be attributed to a driver's violation of laws,
carelessness, vehicle mechanical faults, and poor road facilities. An
interesting question for road safety professionals is Can China avoid
an enormous carnage on its highways by adopting Western road safety
programs? Lives saved could number up to half a million a year.