ABSTRACT
Road traffic accident has become a leading cause of death for human. Traffic fatality risk is closely related to the number of vehicles, traffic participants, traffic conditions, etc. Worldwide studies show that per capita income is a good indicator for road fatality risk. Kopits (2005) suggest that fatalities per population in a country tend to follow a Kuznets’s Curve over per capita income. The peak of the curve is found to be at around $8,600. However, in comparison with other major economies in the world, China has an earlier peak of traffic fatality risk at $1,490.
This article investigates into societal, economical, individual factors to explain the early decline in China’s traffic fatality risk. It is of great significance to other developing countries to find out what factors contribute to the decline of traffic fatality risk at an earlier stage of economic development.
