BEIJING, Aug. 10 -- Chinese authorities have stepped up security checks to ensure road safety during the summer vacation peak tourism season following a fatal traffic accident in northwest China's Gansu Province.

The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Transport jointly issued a circular recently, requiring effective measures to strengthen road safety management to prevent major traffic accidents and safeguard public safety.

The ministries ordered intensified checks on key passenger and cargo transport vehicles, vowing severe penalties for serious traffic violations such as speeding, overloading, fatigue driving, and illegal refits.

Local police and transport departments are asked to carry out inspections of passenger and cargo transport enterprises, strictly punish those with malpractices in accordance with the law and regulations, and ensure they rectify problems in a timely manner.

Eight people died and six were seriously injured after rear-end crashes occurred on a section of an expressway in Zhangye City of Gansu Province on July 17.

The truck which caused the accident was seriously overloaded. The brakes of the truck failed on a long downhill section and it collided with five cars and two trucks waiting in line for passage.