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Korea's traffic accident fatality rate is more than twice as high as the average among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries, ranking 27th out of 29 countries studied.
According to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs on Tuesday, an average of 3.34 people died in traffic accidents per every 10,000 cars in Korea in 2006, more than double the OECD average of 1.53. Korea's figure dropped slightly to 3.08 last year, but it still remains high.
Switzerland had the lowest traffic accident fatality rate with 0.72 deaths per 10,000 cars, and Japan also posted a low figure of 0.88. Germany, which boasts the speed limit-less Autoban, recorded 0.93, the sixth lowest. The U.S. came in 20th with 1.74. Hungary and Turkey were the only countries with worse fatality rates than Korea.
In 2007, 6,166 people died in 211,662 traffic accidents in Korea, for an average of 16.9 deaths everyday on the roads. The accidents happened most frequently in the evening, between 6 and 10 p.m., when 24.4 percent of the total number of accidents, or 1,505 cases, took place. Weekends were especially hazardous, with 14.8 percent, or 913, of the fatal accidents happening on Fridays, and 16 percent, or 989, on Saturdays.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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