With a population of about 142 million, there were an average 238 deaths for every million people on Russia's roads in 2005, more than double the European Union's 2005 average of about 95 road deaths per million people.
Viktor Kiryanov, the head of the traffic safety department at the Interior Ministry, said a total of 1,341 children had died in car crashes and more than 26,000 were injured, as the number of accidents involving children rose 4.9% to 20,500 during the year.
Police reports said that none of the children involved in the car crashes was wearing a seatbelt or sitting in a special child seats.
Almost half the accidents involving children were caused by adults driving cars under the influence of alcohol, exceeding the speed limit or straying into the opposite lane, the official said.
Kiryanov said that tougher penalties for drunk driving had played a key role in reducing the number of accidents.
"The enactment of these laws led to a decrease in the number of road accidents caused by drunk drivers by 9.3% last year and by 16.9% this year," the official said.
