Six road fatalities in first quarter of 2017
During the first quarter of 2017 there were six road traffic fatalities, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.
The number of reported road traffic accidents in the first quarter reached 3,508, down by 5.6% over the comparative period in 2016. This amount equals to an average rate of approximately 39 accidents per day.
Traffic casualties decreased by 13.7% to 403 over 2016, of which 244 (60.5%) involved drivers. The amount of slight/insignificant injuries sustained by drivers was 210 and 30 cases were reported as grievous. Another 30 persons (6 passengers and 24 pedestrians/cyclists/others) suffered grievous injuries. There were also 84 passengers and 43 pedestrians/cyclist/others who were slightly/ insignificantly injured. Furthermore, the injuries suffered by four drivers, one passenger and one pedestrian were fatal.
On a gender basis, slightly/insignificantly-injured persons in the first quarter this year amounted to 337 (189 males and 148 females). Grievously-injured persons totalled 60, the majority being males.
The fatalities comprised of five males and one female. The majority of casualties fell in the 26-40 age bracket.
The largest number of road traffic casualties (68.2%) involved passenger cars, followed by motorcycles (19.4%) and goods-carrying vehicles (6.0%). Of the six fatalities, three were caused by passenger cars, one by a motorcycle, one by a quadricycle and another one by a goods-carrying vehicle.
The highest road traffic casualty rate occurred on Mondays, accounting for 15.6% of total casualties, while the highest number of accidents was recorded on Fridays. Sundays topped the highest casualty-to-accidents ratio, with 15.7% compared to an overall average of 11.5%.
The daily time bracket in which most accidents occurred was between 12:00-14:59, with 743 cases, or 21.2% of the total. This was followed by the 15:00-17:59 time bracket, with 729 cases. The least number of accidents occurring daily took place between 00:00 and 02:59 (64 cases).
The highest rate of traffic accidents was registered in Birkirkara with 294 cases, followed by Mosta and Ħal Qormi with 148 and 145 reported accidents respectively.