Traffic deaths in 2003 are expected to fall below the 8,000 mark for the first time in 46 years, the National Police Agency said Friday.
Road deaths this year had reached 7,000 by midnight Thursday, 22 days later than this mark was hit last year and down 615 from the same period last year, the agency said.
This year's traffic deaths are now set to be sharply lower than last year's 8,326, which represented half the peak of 16,765 posted in 1970, the NPA said. The last time the figure was below 8,000 was in 1957.