The number of traffic deaths on the Rangoon-Naypyidaw highway has risen to 100 by early November, Mizzima reports. Highway police said there had been 219 car accidents, resulting in 100 deaths and 546 injuries. “Most of the accidents occurred when drivers fell asleep at the wheel or were speeding,” deputy police lieutenant Soe Win said. “Car accidents due to mechanical breakdowns were rare.” The highway was built at a rapid pace in order to quickly connect Rangoon with the military-planned capital Naypyidaw, which was opened in 2005, and engineers involved in the project have said that road safety was a low priority.
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