S. Korea plagued by deteriorating traffic safety data

SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea ranks near the bottom for traffic safety among the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a report showed Wednesday.
KoRoad, a national traffic safety agency, said there were 475.9 traffic accidents per every 100,000 South Koreans in 2009.



The reading marks the 30th highest among 32 countries with memberships in the international organization, the report said. Two other OECD member countries were omitted from the statistics.
The accident ratio in the country trailed only Japan, in which 577.7 accidents per 100,000 people were recorded, and the U.S., with 504.2 accidents, according to the report.
Mexico had the least road accidents of 27.5 per every 100,000 people among the 32 countries polled. The average accident rate stood at 336.2, the report showed.
Out of every 10,000 vehicles, 111.4 cars got into traffic accidents in South Korea in 2009, the report also said. The number was the highest among the 31 member countries polled and the only result exceeding the 100-mark among the nations.
Japan registered the next worst figure with 88.8 accidents per each 10,000 cars while Denmark had the least accidents at 14.9, according to the report. The OECD average was 55.1.
The number of South Koreans killed on the road reached 12 per every 100,000 people, the 31st highest among 33 countries polled, the report also showed.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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