Citing statistics from the 2007 OECD International Road Traffic and Accident Database, Green City said 5.28 per 100,000 Korean pedestrians died in traffic accidents in 2005. That's the highest figure among the 28 OECD countries.

The OECD average was 1.58 per 100,000, which is one-third the rate of fatal accidents in Korea.

Major advanced countries had very low numbers, with 0.51 fatalities per 100,000 in the Netherlands, 0.55 in Sweden, 0.83 in Germany, and 1.9 in Japan.

An official with Green City Research Institute recommended the government promote traffic safety policies in order to move beyond an underdeveloped country in terms of traffic accidents.

(englishnews@chosun.com )