CRI听力:Dec. 2 Set as National Traffic Safety Day

One-two-two is the traffic accident emergency number. That's why December 2 has been set as the National Traffic Safety Day. The theme of this year's National Traffic Safety Day is "Obeying the traffic signal, safer roads."

According to statistics, by the end of October this year, China had more than 238 million motor vehicles and 256 auto vehicle license holders.

With the rapid growth of motor vehicles and drivers, traffic accidents have become a big threat to people's lives.

Figures from the Ministry of Public Security show that traffic accidents claim the lives of about 70 thousand every year. The accidents injure about 300 thousand people every year. The direct economic loss is estimated at 1 billion yuan (or about 160.45 million US dollars).

More than 80 percent of the accidents are caused by not obeying traffic rules.

In cities, traffic accidents are usually caused by pedestrians, bicycle and scooter riders and motor vehicle drivers all competing for road space.

Many drivers think pedestrians and bike riders should pay more attention to the traffic rules. A driver says:

"I was turning right. Suddenly a bicycle rider appeared out of nowhere on my right. I braked immediately, but still he hit my car and fell. He was too fast. I don't know where he came from."

But a woman says, as a pedestrian she doesn't feel safe sometimes.

"Sometimes if there are no surveillance cameras, the drivers may ignore the traffic rules. They may drive very fast when going through a crosswalk. They may even drive in the opposite direction. This scares me."

Traffic signals are an effective method to ensure the safety of different parties. However, a survey by the Traffic Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security and China Youth Daily show that more than 67 percent of the people surveyed admitted to running a red light, despite more than 93 percent who said they believe a traffic light is the "silent law." More than 10 thousand people participated in the survey.

The survey also asked questions like, why do they disobey traffic laws such as running a red light. Sixty three point four percent said they just follow other people.

An interesting figure showed that more than 40 percent believe that running a red light should not be punishable.

The top three factors surveyed people believe to be the major causes of traffic accident are competing for road space between pedestrians and motor vehicles; too many cars and disobeying traffic laws.

While a series of activities will be held on this year's National Traffic Safety Day, one man believes promotions on a particular day won't have much influence.

"There are too many days with those so-called themes. Nobody remembers them. The key is to have people realize the consequences of their actions and to build people's consciousness to obey traffic rules."

Some netizens also left message online saying that obeying traffic rule is one of the most effective ways to build a sense of social responsibility, and such self-consciousness is a symbol of a civilized life style.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.