China recently managed to overtake Japan to become the world’s second biggest automobile market after the US. That is in volume terms and excluding imports, but any time China beats Japan it is naturally hyped by the government and the state press.

AsiaPundit doesn’t believe he has heard anything about China besting the two largest auto markets in terms of traffic fatalities however, :

Almost 21,000 people in China died in traffic accidents during the first three months of this year and that’s 8.5 percent less than the number killed last year, according to the Ministry of Public Security.For comparison, about 42,000 people died in traffic accidents in the U.S. during the whole of 2003. China is on pace to double that number this year.

Of course, China is also home to far more people than the U.S., but at the same time, the U.S. has far more cars and more people driving. In 2002, the number of traffic deaths out of every 100,000 was between 12 and 16 in North and South American countries, according to the World Health Organization. The rate of deaths in Asia was between 16 and 19.

I couldn’t find specific numbers for China on the number of traffic deaths per 100,000 people, but am certain its on the high end of the WHO’s scale for Asia. The number of traffic deaths in China is appalling. In the first three months this year, the number of car accidents totaled 98,000, down 11.3 percent and the number of injuries was 115,000, down one percent, the government said on April 11.

The fatality rate would no doubt be higher if cars were actually able to move.:

For more traffic pictures, AsiaPundit recommends the Chinese Driving Exam.

What is the maximum amount of Styrofoam you can carry on a motorbike?

A) Maximum, what maximum?

B) Depends on how much string you have

Also related: Global Voices on driving in Vietnam, China Snippets on Shanghai’s traffic fines and Imagethief on why he doesn’t own a car in Beijing.

Technorati Tags: asia, china, east asia, northeast asia