22 die in road accidents in 2016, 1,853 injured – NSO
During the fourth quarter of 2016 there were five traffic fatalities, the NSO said.
The number of reported traffic accidents in the fourth quarter reached 3,392, down by 9.0% over the comparative period in 2015. This amount equals to an average rate of approximately 37 accidents per day. The Northern Harbour district registered the most accidents with 1,308 cases or 38.6% of all accidents.
Traffic casualties decreased by 12.6% to 375 over 2015, of which 236 (62.9%) involved drivers. The amount of slight injuries sustained by drivers was 207 and 26 cases were reported as grievous. Another 31 persons (14 passengers and 17 pedestrians) suffered grievous injuries. There were also 65 passengers and 41 pedestrians who were slightly injured. Furthermore, the injuries suffered by three drivers and two pedestrians were fatal.
On a gender basis, slightly-injured persons in the fourth quarter this year amounted to 313 (197 males and 116 females). Grievously-injured persons totalled 57, the majority being males. The fatalities comprised of four males and one female. The majority of casualties fell in the 26-40 age bracket.
The largest number of traffic casualties (64.3%) were caused by passenger cars, followed by motorcycles (23.7%) and goodscarrying vehicles (10.1%). Of the five fatalities, three were caused by motorcycles, one by passenger car and another by a goodscarrying vehicle.
The highest traffic casualty rate occurred on Thursdays, accounting for 15.5% of total casualties, while the highest number of accidents was recorded on Fridays. Sundays topped the highest casualty-to-accidents ratio, with 17.9% compared to an overall average of 11.1%, the NSO said today.
The daily time bracket in which most accidents occurred was between 9-11.59am, with 721 cases, or 21.3% of the total. This was followed by the 122.59pm time bracket, with 701 cases. The least number of accidents occurring daily took place between midnight-2.59am (70 cases). The highest rate of traffic accidents was registered in Birkirkara with 270 cases, followed by Ħal Qormi and Msida with 170 and 156 reported accidents respectively.
January-December 2016
In 2016, the total number of recorded accidents totalled 15,245, a decrease of 1.7% over 2015, equating to an average of approximately 42 accidents per day. The Northern Harbour district registered the highest number of traffic accidents with 5,783 cases, or 37.9% of the total.
Last year, the largest number of traffic casualties (69.4%) were caused by passenger cars while 20.3% were caused by motorcycles. A total of 1,853 persons (1,099 males and 754 females) suffered injuries due to traffic accidents, of which 22 cases (16 males and six females) proved fatal. These fatalities comprised of 11 drivers, three passengers, seven pedestrians and a cyclist.
The highest number of traffic accidents in 2016 occurred in the locality of Birkirkara amounting to 1,224 cases, or 8.0% of the total. Ħal Qormi and St Paul’s Bay were next, with 751 and 709 reported accidents respectively.