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China has joined a global initiative to raise people's awareness of road safety in a bid to slash the number of fatalities on its roads. Currently, traffic accidents account for one death every five minutes.

Running concurrently with the United Nations' Global Road Safety Week, a series of events is being jointly sponsored by seven national ministries and the World Health Organization (WHO). The campaign was launched yesterday in Beijing with the "harmonious-traffic" road show that will tour six cities delivering its road safety message.

Bus accident claims 26 CHONGQING: Twenty-six people died in a bus accident yesterday morning in Chongqing Municipality, Southwest China. The bus was traveling at excessive speed and was overloaded, police said. The bus carrying 32 passengers, seven more than the permitted limit, ploughed through the guardrail of a bridge at 7:30 am. It was traveling on a road that runs parallel to the Jialing River on its way from Yubei District in downtown Chongqing to Beibei, in the suburbs of Chongqing. The bus plunged 13 m killing 22 passengers instantly. Two died on their way to hospital and two after being admitted. Eight others are in hospital, where six, including the bus driver, are being treated for serious injuries. Local traffic police said the main cause of the accident was due to speeding and overloading. Overnight rain might have also been a contributing factor. Government officials are handling the aftermath of the accident. Last October, a bus drove off the elevated ramp of a Chongqing bridge killing 30 people and injuring 20.

Ma Xiaowei, vice-minister with the Ministry of Health, one of the sponsors of the campaign, said that in addition to the road shows, a number of seminars and forums would be held to address key road safety issues, including properly treating the victims of traffic accidents.

"In collaboration with the Ministry of Public Security, the MOH has launched a "green passage", to ensure timely treatment for traffic injury victims," Ma said at the launch ceremony.

With the economic boom came motorization and China now has some 34 million cars on its roads, and the figure is growing by 12 percent a year. According to MOH statistics, there are six fatalities a year for every 10,000 motor vehicles.

Statistics from the Ministry of Public Security said that there were 80,000 road deaths and more than 400,000 injuries in 2006. This translated as an economic loss of 1 billion yuan ($129.5 million). More than half the people killed were aged 15 to 44, the most economically productive group.

In a bid to improve the traffic environment and raise public awareness of road safety a road traffic safety law was introduced in 2004. But more needs to be done.

WHO representative Henk Bekedam said that prevention was better than cure when it came to road accidents and he called for more road safety interventions and measures.

"Simple things like wearing a seat belt or a crash helmet, and following traffic rules can save lives," he said.

A road safety survey conducted in Beijing and South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, showed that just 35 percent of drivers and front seat passengers wore seat belts as recommended, and that less than 16 percent of motorcycle riders wore approved helmets, ignoring legal requirements to do so.