CCTV9英语新闻12月：交通安全日：中国的道路是世界上最致命的（在线收听）

By CCTV reporter Jin Yingqiao

Monday is traffic safety day in China, a day established by the Ministry of Public Security to raise awareness of safe driving. Every year about 70,000 people die in traffic accidents in China, giving it the dubious distinction of having world’s most dangerous roads. A number of factors contribute to the title, including a huge road network, poor road conditions, inadequate driver training and outright negligence behind the wheel. On Monday, a district court in Beijing heard one such case involving illegal, late-night racing.

It’s midnight and dozens of spectators are waiting for the race to begin. This not a scene from a Hollywood movie, it’s a widely-circulated video of a highway in east Beijing and posted on social media. The racers -- three men surnamed Yang, Xu and Liu -- didn’t hurt anyone or wreck their cars but their dangerous stunt landed them in court.

"The race was a criminal act and the surveillance video is evidence. They should found guilty of dangerous driving." said Prosecutor.

The Beijing court has not yet rendered a verdict in the case, which is not at all uncommon among young drivers.

In 2006, on Beijing’s second ring road, two speeders caught the attention of police as they raced at almost twice the speed limit of 80 kilometers an hour. One of them raced around the 30 kilometer road in just 13 minutes. In 2011, speed demons in central China’s Xi’an, raced their souped-up cars 285 kilometers an hour.

"Drive slower! The road is slippery." said Sounds of driver.

The driver’s warning is ignored in this private video which was posted on social media. Again there were no casualties but these illegal races do kill.

In May last year in the city of Shenshen three people died when their taxi was rammed by a speeding sports car. A man surnamed Hou and his three women passengers have just left a bar when surveillance video caught them racing at 242 kilometers per hour.

A pair of taxis blocked his road and with no time to break Hou smashed into them. One taxi was tossed to the side of the road and caught fire, killing the three people inside.

"You could hardly bear the sight of it...their faces were beyond recognition."

Huo was charged and sentenced to 15 years in prison.