NEWS | Wednesday, 13 February 2008

Three road fatalities in Q4 2007

There were three fatalities in the fourth quarter of 2007, two males and one female. In the fourth quarter of 2007, the number of reported traffic accidents reached 4,027, an increase of 310 cases or 8.3 per cent over the corresponding quarter in the preceding year. The highest increase in accidents was registered in the Northern Harbour district, up by 185 cases or 12.6 per cent.
On an annual basis, road traffic accidents totalled 16,138, implying an increase of 589 cases over 2006. Overall, the Northern Harbour district registered most traffic accidents, 6,447 or 39.9 per cent of the total cases for 2007.
In the fourth quarter, 277 traffic casualties were reported. Of these, 169 drivers sustained injuries: 133 suffered slight injuries and 36 suffered grievous ones. In the same period, 53 passengers and 26 pedestrians suffered slight injuries, while nine passengers and 17 pedestrians suffered grievous ones. There were three fatalities, two drivers and one pedestrian.
On a gender basis, casualties in the fourth quarter of 2007 comprised 175 males and 102 females. Grievously-injured persons came up to 62, the majority being males. The three fatalities in this quarter comprised two males and one female. Most male and female casualties occured in the 25-39 age group.
On an annual basis, 1,209 traffic casualties were reported in 2007, implying a small increase of 1.1 per cent over 2006. Traffic fatalities in 2007 summed up to 14 persons, an increase of four cases over the previous year. Of these, 11 were males and three were females, the majority being in the 25-39 age group. 78.0 per cent of casualties in the fourth quarter were caused by passenger cars while 9.0 per cent were caused by motorcycles. These two statistics for the whole of 2007 were 75.9 and 13.2 per cent respectively. Nearly half of all traffic accidents occurred on weekend days in respect of both periods.
Birkirkara was the locality with the highest road accident rate, tailed by Qormi and Marsa.