The death toll from traffic accidents dropped to 6,871 last year, down by 487 from the previous year and less than 7,000 for the first time since 1956, the National Police Agency said Monday.
The death toll for 2005 was only 40 percent of the figure for 1970, when traffic fatalities hit a postwar record of 16,765.
The annual toll dipped below 8,000 in 2003 and was about 7,000 in 2004. It has fallen for five years in a row.
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