China banned 17,264 people from driving for life in 2018 for various serious traffic violations including drunken driving and hit and run cases.
Among them, a total of 5,149 were caught drunk driving in serious traffic accidents and faced criminal prosecution, state-run Xinhua news agency reported, quoting a statement from the Ministry of Public Security as saying.
The remaining 12,115 were involved in serious hit and run cases, the statement said.
The country has registered 22.85 million new automobiles and 22.55 million new drivers, with 86,000 km of highways put into operation in 2018.