Road Traffic Accidents: Q3/2024
The number of reported traffic accidents during the third quarter of 2024 reached 4,395, up by 1.0 per cent over the same period in 2023. The Northern Harbour district registered the most accidents with 1,506 cases or 34.3 per cent of all accidents (Table 1).
Road traffic casualties decreased by 9.1 per cent to 388 over the same period in 2023. Grievously injured persons amounted to 97, and consisted of 62 drivers, 12 passengers and 23 pedestrians/cyclists/others. The injuries suffered by three drivers, one passenger and one pedestrian proved fatal (Tables 4-6). During this quarter, four additional fatalities were registered when compared to the same period in 2023 (Chart 1).
The majority of those grievously injured were males (70.1 per cent). Moreover, the fatalities that occurred during this quarter involved three males and two females. With regards to age cohorts, 37.9 per cent of the casualties involved persons in the 26 to 40 age bracket (Chart 2 and Table 5).
Chart 1. Road traffic accidents and fatalities by period
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The largest number of road traffic casualties (48.5 per cent) involved passenger cars, followed by motorcycles (38.9 per cent) and goods-carrying vehicles (5.2 per cent). The fatalities included a driver colliding with another vehicle, two drivers and a passenger crashing into a property, and a pedestrian being hit by a vehicle. Cyclists involved in traffic accidents amounted to eight, where one suffered grievous injuries, six suffered slight injuries and one suffered insignificant injuries (Tables 6-7). Road traffic casualties resulting from accidents between vehicles topped the list with 67.0 per cent of all road traffic casualties (Table 7).
The highest number of road traffic casualties occurred on Thursdays with 71 casualties, and the highest number of road traffic accidents occurred on Mondays with 709 cases or 16.1 per cent of the total (Table 8). The time bracket with the highest number of road traffic accidents occurred between 12:00 – 14:59 with 1,055 cases or 24.0 per cent of the total, followed by the 09:00 – 11:59 time bracket with 990 cases. The least number of accidents occurring daily took place between 03:00 – 05:59 with 63 cases (Table 9).
The highest incidence of road traffic accidents was registered in Birkirkara with 281 cases, followed by Ħal Qormi and San Pawl Il-Baħar, with 273 and 261 cases respectively (Table 10, Map 1 and Chart 5).
Il-Fontana, Ix-Xgħajra and San Lawrenz registered less than five road traffic accidents (Map 1 and Table 10).
Map 1. Road traffic accidents by locality: July-September 2024
All districts recorded a decrease in road traffic accidents, except for the Southern Harbour and the South Eastern districts, which recorded an increase, when compared to the third quarter of the previous year. The South Eastern district registered the highest percentage increase in road traffic accidents at 13.7 per cent, whereas the Gozo and Comino district recorded the highest percentage decrease at 6.0 per cent (Table 1 and Map 2).
Map 2. Percentage change in road traffic accidents by district: July-September 2024/2023
Note: In the Western district, the percentage decrease in road traffic accidents was negligible.
Additional Tables and Charts
Tables
Chart 2. Road traffic casualties by age group and gender
July-September 2024
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