Faulted brakes and other auto parts have caused 6,064 deadly traffic accidents across China this year as of Nov. 15, a senior police official has revealed.
Braking system defects were identified as the cause of 86.5 percent of the accidents, with the rest attributed to faulted lighting, signal lamps or tires, said Liu Zhao, deputy director of the traffic management division under the Ministry of Public Security.
Safety defects also lay behind many high-profile road accidents in recent years, including a coach crash in Oct. 2011, which claimed 35 lives, Liu said on Tuesday at a seminar held to promote the upcoming "Road Safety Day," which falls on Sunday.
The Chinese government published revised regulations on automotive recalls in October to address public concerns about road safety and the quality of cars.
The new regulation, set to enter into force on Jan. 1, 2013, introduces tougher financial penalties and even revocation of manufacturing licenses for producers failing to conduct recalls, according to the rules.
According to the ministry, at the end of October, China had 233 million vehicles and 256 million licensed drivers.
