China's driving dangers
By CNN Correspondent Phil O'Sullivan
GUANGZHOU, China (CNN) -- The huge boom in car sales in China is seeing first time drivers taking to the roads in ever increasing numbers.
But China's roads are a tough place for beginners.
Last year, China's drivers notched up two-and-a-half times as many road fatalities as the United States, and that's with far fewer cars on Chinese roads.
China is the world's fastest growing car market with two million new cars hitting the roads last year alone.
In what is known by state news agency, Xinhua, as China's 'auto era', all these new cars mean a lot of new drivers at the wheel.
At a driving school in downtown Guangzhou in China's southern Guangdong province, enrolments are up 40 percent on last year.
Li Dun is one of the student drivers. He says he is not worried by all the new traffic which makes a loud din on the roads outside his driving school.
Li is confident the new driving skills he is learning will stand him in good stead when he hits the roads. And besides, he believes road conditions in China are getting better.
Li's optimism may be a little premature.
More than a 100,000 people were killed on China's roads last year alone.
As China's cities grow, rows of new apartment blocks in the suburbs are creating a new and growing class of Chinese commuters.
Out on the highways traffic police are a frequent sight and are often busy issuing tickets to errant motorists or overseeing the result of another fender bender.
Li Bingnan is a driving instructor and he says that as China's society develops, there are more and more opportunities to get behind the wheel.
He says that while previously there weren't a lot of cars around, more and more wealthier individuals are enjoying the convenience of being able to do things like driving to work.
But that convenience means the construction of more and more roads, more traffic jams, worsening pollution and a greater reliance on oil.
Another of the major casualties of this car-buying boom in China is the humble bicycle.
Pedestrians also have to look left, then right and left again with a lot more attention these days. China's roads are a lot more dangerous place and the car is king.
Growing numbers of cars have seen China's previously ubiquitous bicycles from some of Shanghai's biggest avenues.
But while bicycles do still have their place, cars now carry more status among China's increasingly mobile middle-class.
Despite Li Dun's confidence in his new driving skills, he's smart enough to know that without them, China's roads are not for the faint-hearted new driver.
"Everyone should learn how to drive from a driving school," he says.
"It's essential before going out on to the roads."
In a country where road fatalities are now five times higher than they were two decades ago, that sounds like sensible advice.
