During the second quarter of 2019, the Maltese roads registered six road traffic fatalities.
The number of reported traffic accidents during the second quarter this year amounted to 3,818, a marginal decrease of 0.5 per cent over the corresponding period in 2018. The Northern Harbour district registered the largest share of all road traffic accidents with 1,405 cases or 36.8 per cent of all accidents.
Road traffic casualties declined by 10.4 per cent to 421 over the same period in 2018. Grievously injured persons consisted of 50 drivers, 13 passengers and 22 pedestrians/cyclists/other persons. The injuries suffered by three drivers and three passengers proved fatal (Tables 4-6). In comparison, the number of road traffic fatalities were three less than those recorded during the same quarter in 2018. The total number of road traffic fatalities during the first six months this year amounted to seven.
When classified by gender, the majority of the 85 grievously injured persons were males (69.4 per cent). The fatalities comprised of two males and four females. Moreover, most of the recorded traffic casualties fell in the 41 to 59 age bracket.
The majority of the road traffic casualties (62.2 per cent) involved passenger cars, followed by motorcycles (27.1 per cent) and goods-carrying vehicles (5.7 per cent). The six fatalities consisted of two car drivers, two passengers, a motorcyclist and a pillion rider. Five cyclists were involved in vehicle collisions, of which three sustained grievous injuries. Road traffic casualties caused by collisions between vehicles topped the list with 74.8 per cent of the total.
The highest road traffi c casualty and road traffi c accident rates occurred on Thursdays with 66 casualties and 606 accidents respectively. The time bracket during which most road traffic accidents occurred was between 12:00 and 14:59 with 841 cases or 22.0 per cent of the total, followed by the 09:00-11:59 time bracket with 812 cases. The least number of accidents occurring daily took place between 03:00 and 05:59 with 73 cases.
The highest number of road traffic accidents by locality was registered in Birkirkara with 312 cases. Ħal Qormi and St Paul’s Bay were next, with 215 and 178 reported accidents respectively.