It's the darndest thing. With all the crazy drivers, scooters and pedestrians I have only seen a few minor fender benders here. 
I am by no means an expert here yet, but it seems baffling.
But most drivers in town do not go that fast, at least in my town.
The most common being what the locals call a "kiss".  When 2 cars trying to merge don't give ground and end up colliding...at about 3 mph....minor stuff.

The Dude is correct.  Speed limits are low here, city streets are mostly 20 Kms/hr, big avenues 40 Kms/hr and highways from 60 to 80 Kms per hour.  So, the fastest legal speed is 50 miles per hour.

In city driving, most traffic fatalities occur when one hits the other broadside, causing it to overturn.  Since no seat belt are used, some get thrown out of cars, and serious injuries or death can occur then.  Otherwise, not serious crashes like back home due to higher speeds.

Here, an unwritten law is that the bigger one has the right of way, the smaller one either stop and yield, or crashes.  And scooters in a way are more dangerous, because they do travel between 20 and 40 Kms/hr, and if an accident occurs your body will become a projectile.

One important thing to learn here, before crossing a street, lok out BOTH ways, no matter if it is a one way street.

yeah when i first got here i thought the driving was just totally manic with clearly noone following any rules but actually as i have now got out on the road myself, its not actually that bad. Most do abide by the common road rules, such as indicating. Just gotto be aware that anything can happen at any time, keep alert and expect people to do unexpected things on the roads and then you wil be fine.

As said before, in town you won't see many big accidents due to the relatively low speed limits.  Where you see the nasty stuff is on the expressways where the speed limit is up to 120 km/h.  And of course, many people have installed GPS devices in their cars that can help them avoid the speed cameras, so between cameras some folks are doing a lot more than 120 km/h (75mph).  I've seen passenger cars reduced to less than half their original length, flipped upside down, charred black from catching on fire, stained red with blood....you name it.

By the way, in a place where seemingly everyone has the right-of-way, the pecking order generally seems to be:

1. Who has the loudest horn (big trucks, buses, etc).
2. Who has the most expensive car (BMW, Mercedes, Audi, etc)
3. All other cars
4. Scooters
5. Pedestrians

This article was on the first page of echinacities.http://www.echinacities.com/aroundtown/china-in-pulse/1-795-reported-traffic-accidents-during-spring-festival.html

1,795 Reported Traffic Accidents During Spring Festival Holiday

I'm not sure where you have been looking but I've found many stats besides this one. The last one I read about was a guy in college that hit a waitress while she was riding her bike. She was laying on the concrete by herself because the guy left. A few hours later the guy comes back and stabs her to death thinking she was gonna seek money from him and his family and would constantly harass his family daily. He was just given the death penalty and was put to death not long ago. I have also witnessed several huge accidents in the big city. The last one I saw the car was flipped on it's side and I believe a truck was involved.

It astounds me that I have yet to see a serious accident here. Seriously!!! I suspect it's only because of.... nah - I've got no idea! Perhaps the gods of luck have been well and truly paid off or something.

I also disagree with what's been said above - I've seen packed buses regularly breaking the speed limits, with the horn blaring. As well as those expensive cars at double the speed limit.. and what's with - new thread!