GUANGZHOU: Truck drivers will have to stop at the tollgates to Guangzhou for at least 20 minutes so that police can check their vehicles for safety.

A strict check of trucks using the highways from other cities to Guangzhou is being enforced.

"We are inviting every truck driver to take a rest while their vehicles are checked," Liu Jingjun, director of the Detachment of Traffic Police of Guangzhou, said.

In summer, drivers get tired more easily, therefore a rest while their vehicles are being checked would help reduce the number of accidents, Liu said.

"The trucks will be checked for overloading, which slows the vehicles down on highways causing traffic congestion and accidents," he said.

Some highways have caved in because of overloaded trucks, Liu said.

Guangdong Public Security Bureau statistics show 3,449 traffic accidents occurred in the first half of this year, causing 722 deaths.

This month, traffic accidents have risen sharply. Between July 16 and 22, there were 29 accidents resulting in 39 deaths.

Overloaded trucks accounted for 65 percent of all accidents.

The checks, launched on Tuesday, will go on till the end of next month, Liu said.

In the past four days hundreds of truck drivers have been ticketed for overloading.

They have been fined 200 yuan ($26) and three points have been deducted from their driving licenses.

Most drivers do not mind having their vehicles checked as it allows them to have a little rest, Huang Jian, a policeman, said.

(China Daily 07/27/2007 page5)