Report: New laws required to reduce traffic risk

China should amend its law on road traffic safety, as the illegal production and modification of vehicles and electric bikes poses mounting threats to road safety, according to a report released by the top legislature on Wednesday.

The report on the implementation of an amended road traffic safety law, conducted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said that a sharp increase in the number of vehicles and drivers poses major challenges to traffic management and a revision of the law is necessary to enable the authorities to cope with the issue.

"There is a need to step up punishments for those violating the law, especially in terms of overloading of trucks, and the illegal production and sales of vehicles," the report said.

The illegal production, modification and use of cargo trucks poses a major challenge to road safety, as the safety performance of such vehicles is greatly decreased, making them more susceptible to brake and steering failure, the report said.

The overloading of cargo trucks accounted for more than 60 percent of major traffic accidents involving such trucks in 2015, the legislature said.

Rising numbers of unlicensed electric cars is another problem. "Such vehicles cannot meet the compulsory standards for vehicles and have poor safety indexes. They contribute to traffic congestion and lead to accidents," the report said.

The illegal production and use of electric bikes is another major issue, as large numbers of high-speed, large-sized electric bikes violate traffic regulations and cause accidents.

To solve such issues, authorities should tighten law enforcement and crack down on illegal attempts to modify and repair vehicles that have already been scrapped, the legislature said.

China's law on road traffic safety was enacted on May 1, 2005. Since then, the number of drivers has increased from 75 million to 327 million in 2015, and the number of vehicles has increased from 107 million to 278 million in the same period.

The report was conducted by polling more than 334,000 people through news portals and the websites of provincial-level people's congresses and traffic management authorities.

About 62 percent of respondents said they believe drivers of electric bikes commit the most severe violations of the law. About 38 percent of respondents said motorbikes and trucks that transport construction materials and waste also commit "relatively severe" violations of the law.

A majority of respondents said improper urban planning, an increase in the number vehicles and traffic violations are the top three reasons for traffic congestion.

xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/22/2016 page5)