Traffic accidents in the first half of the year claimed 4,227 lives, a 8.4 percent decrease from the same period last year, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
Of those, 1,936 died instantly, a 10.5 percent drop from last year's figure, the agency said. Others died later as a result of injuries sustained in accidents.
However, people who died from injuries 24 hours after an accident are not listed among the fatalities.
Traffic accidents in which at least one person was hurt totaled 370,820, a dip of 0.9 percent, and about 454,900 people were injured, a 1 percent decline from last year. Agency officials said about one-third of those killed in traffic accidents in the first half of the year were 65 or older.