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The U.S. transportation secretary says Russia's biggest challenge in that domain is building a safe road network. MOSCOW (AP) — The U.S. transportation secretary says Russia's biggest challenge in that domain is building a safe road network — and he is urging the former Cold War adversary to follow America's lead.

Raymond H. LaHood is in Moscow to attend a meeting of ministers on road safety.

Russia registers around 30,000 deaths annually. The U.S. has around 10,000 deaths more on average, but has over six times the number of registered vehicles, according to World Health Organization statistics.

Poor roads, lack of basic precautions such as safety belt use and drink driving contribute to Russia's problems.

LaHood told The Associated Press on Friday that Russia should run safety awareness campaigns like in the U.S.