China's Ministry of Public Security Monday have attributed a 70-day campaign on road safety with reducing the road death toll by 3,900 last year.

The campaign, which started on Oct. 20 with focus on drink driving, speeding, fatigue driving and overloading, lowered China's traffic death toll by 18.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the ministry.

A total of 16,875 people were killed in traffic accidents from Oct. 20 to Dec. 31 last year.

The number of people killed due to speeding dropped 27.7 percent from the same period in 2005, deaths due to drink driving were down 34.5 percent and to fatigue driving were down 48.7 percent.

Vice Minister of Public Security Liu Jinguo said the number of traffic accidents dropped 21.9 percent to 66,700 during the campaign and people injured also dropped 18.6 percent to 70,434.

A total of 29.29 million traffic violations were reported during the campaign and 23,000 people's driving licenses were revoked, Liu said.

Liu said the ministry would continue to improve policing of road safety in 2007 with a special focus on rural vehicles and expressways.

Traffic accidents claimed 89,455 lives last year, 9.4 percent less than 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2007)