MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) - More than 27,000 people have been killed in road accidents in Russia since January 2007, the traffic police press service announced on Monday.
"From January-October 2007, a total of 27,289 people were killed and 247,770 injured in 194,000 road accidents ", the press release says. The figure is a 3.4% increase on the same period in 2006.
The majority of accidents were caused by violations of road traffic rules. However, tougher punishments for driving under the influence of alcohol saw an almost 10% drop in drunk-driving accidents. The drop in child road deaths saw a similar decrease.