The total number of traffic accidents for the first nine months of 2008 reduced by 3 percent over the same period of last year, according to the figures released on Thursday by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

The DSEC said that the total number of traffic accidents reached 9,619 cases during the period, resulting in 3,253 victims and six of them were killed.

At the end of September this year, the number of licensed vehicles in Macao totaled 182,938, a year-on-year increase of 6 percent, of which 53 percent (96,677) were motorcycles and 43 percent (78,645) were light private cars, according to the DSEC figures.

The DSEC also said that new registration of local vehicles decreased by 7 percent year-on-year to 15,389 in the first nine months of 2008, with motorcycles and light private cars accounting for 62 percent and 30 percent respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2008)