Beijing  - Nearly 1,500 new cars drive out every day onto the already-clogged streets of Beijing, which has been ranked among the world's most polluted cities.

"The growing number of automobiles is creating serious traffic pressure and safety risks in the city," Song Jianguo, head of the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.

The Chinese capital registered 65,970 new cars in the first 45 days of the year, creating an average daily increase of 1,466 vehicles, the bureau said.

The new registrations brought the total number of Beijing's cars to 3.56 million.

Car exhaust and other pollution became a prime concern to athletes' health and performance as Beijing hosted the Olympics in August. As a result, Chinese authorities only allowed cars to drive every other day on Beijing's roads, and imposed permanent driving restrictions after the games that have reduced Beijing's traffic by about 20 per cent on weekdays.

Every car is now barred from the roads one day a week, a system that is enforced through license plate numbers, but little relief is seen on the streets as the residents of the city of 17 million people buy an increasing number of cars.

China also has a poor record on road safety because of its crowded roads and its drivers' lax observance of traffic rules.

In Beijing, 90 people were killed in traffic accidents in the first 45 days of the year, the bureau said without giving numbers for 2008. (dpa)