SUVA, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Seventy people died from road accidents in Fiji last year, the highest such number recorded by police over a decade in the South Pacific Island state, which has a population of around 900,000.

Rusiate Tudravu, assistant commissioner for Fiji's Police Chief of Operations, said on Tuesday that speeding continued to be a major area of concern for drivers involved in road accidents and despite repeated calls to adhere to the national speed limits set out by the authorities, the traffic infringement notices clearly indicated blatant disregard for the law which needed to change to avoid accidents and fatalities this year.

Tudravu said these statistics was evident during the first 15-day period of Operation Yalodei where 1,700 speeding infringement notices were issued throughout the country.

He urged Fijians not to look at the work of traffic officers whether they are conducting random breathalyzer checks or radar operations as an obstacle to their travel plans, but know that these authorities were conducting their work to reinforce the issue of safety.

Operation Yalodei has 500 police officers patrolling the country during the festive season keeping Fiji safe for everyone.

Tudravu said that the police force was optimistic that people will adopt a change of attitude about road safety in 2018 so that roads could be safer for drivers and pedestrians.

According to Fiji's Land Transport Authority (LTA), motor vehicle registrations have been growing significantly in Fiji over the last few years with an average growth of 9 percent from 2015 to 2016.

The total number of valid vehicles in Fiji as at December 2016 was 110,763, and 72 percent were private vehicles, followed by 16 percent commercial vehicles and 10 percent public service vehicles.