MOSCOW, November 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia needs tighter control over the issuing of drivers' licenses, after 35,000 people died in car accidents in the country in the past year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday at a State Council Presidium meeting.

"During the past year in Russia, more than 200,000 road accidents have been registered, in which about 35,000 people have been killed and 250 wounded," the president said.

"The number of vehicles in the country grew by 9.2% from 1997 to 2004, while the number of road accidents in this period increased by more than 30%," he added.

"Deliberate violations of traffic rules by drivers and pedestrians cause most traffic accidents," the president said.

Material damages from road accidents during the past four years total more than 2% of Russia's GDP, Putin said. "The country, economy and Russian families lose hundreds of billions of rubles."

He also said traffic security should be a separate branch of state policy. "We need proper management and interaction mechanisms in this sphere."

Putin instructed the government to prepare proposals to amend laws to toughen punishments for intoxicated drivers. However, he said, toughening punishments and raising fines alone would not improve the situation on Russian roads. He proposed instilling "a respectful attitude toward law and the rights of other people." He added that mass media and educational institutions should be involved in changing attitudes.

Putin said that claims against traffic police were just. "Russian towns and villages lack a developed system of pedestrian crossings and road signs." The president said the main criteria for traffic police work was the accident rate. "The main criteria of work conducted by road services and the traffic police should be the lowered accident rate." Transportation Minister Igor Levitin said, "The president instructed the government to consider raising funds for construction of roads and improvement of their condition."

The country needs long-term investment in the construction and modernization of highways, he added. "According to experts' estimates, by 2020 the load on the road network will be ten times higher that its carrying capacity."

He also said Russia needed a modern air medevac service for quicker transport of traffic accident victims to hospitals. "Drivers, as well as officers of the Interior Ministry, Emergency Situations Ministry and other services who are the first to arrive at crash sites should have first aid skills," he said, adding that high death rates in car accidents were caused by the lack of timely medical aid.

The president said cars should be equipped with modern safety features.

The Russian leader said an automated system to register traffic rules violations and make drivers pay fines should be created in the country, Levitin said, citing France, where cameras register violations and then drivers are sent photographs and notifications about fines.