Road Traffic Accidents: Q4/2024
The number of reported traffic accidents during the fourth quarter of 2024 reached 3,961, down by 0.4 per cent over the same period in 2023. The Northern Harbour district registered the most accidents with 1,304 cases or 32.9 per cent of all accidents (Table 1).
Road traffic casualties decreased by 12.9 per cent to 372 over the same period in 2023. Grievously injured persons amounted to 93, and consisted of 54 drivers, nine passengers and 30 pedestrians/cyclists/others. The injuries suffered by two drivers and one pedestrian proved fatal (Tables 4-6). During this quarter, four less fatalities were registered when compared to the same period in 2023 (Chart 1).
The majority of those grievously injured were males (60.2 per cent). Moreover, the fatalities that occurred during this quarter involved three males. With regard to age cohorts, 34.1 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 (51.3 per cent) involved passenger cars, followed by motorcycles (36.6 per cent) and goods-carrying vehicles (5.4 per cent). The fatalities included two drivers crashing into a property and a pedestrian being hit by a vehicle. Cyclists involved in traffic accidents amounted to six, where five suffered slight injuries and one suffered insignificant injuries (Tables 6-7). Road traffic casualties resulting from accidents between vehicles topped the list with 62.4 per cent of all road traffic casualties (Table 7).
The highest number of road traffic casualties occurred on Saturdays with 65 casualties, and the highest number of road traffic accidents occurred on Tuesdays with 694 cases or 17.5 per cent of the total (Table 8). The time bracket with the highest number of road traffic accidents occurred between 09:00-11:59 with 937 cases or 23.7 per cent of the total, followed by the 12:00-14:59 time bracket with 822 cases. The least number of accidents occurring daily took place between 03:00-05:59 with 74 cases (Table 9).
The highest incidence of road traffic accidents was registered in Birkirkara with 250 cases, followed by Ħal Qormi and San Pawl Il-Baħar, with 218 and 188 cases respectively (Table 10, Map 1 and Chart 5).
Ta’ Sannat, Il-Fontana, San Lawrenz and L-Għasri registered less than five road traffic accidents (Map 1 and Table 10).
Map 1. Road traffic accidents by locality: October-December 2024
All districts recorded a decrease in road traffic accidents, except for the Southern Harbour, South Eastern and Gozo and Comino districts, which recorded an increase, when compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year. The South Eastern district registered the highest percentage increase in road traffic accidents at 12.7 per cent, whereas the Northern Harbour district recorded the highest percentage decrease at 8.9 per cent (Table 1 and Map 2).
Map 2. Percentage change in road traffic accidents by district: October-December 2024/2023
Annual Perspective
The number of fatalities during 2024 reached 12, down by four when compared to the previous year (Chart 1). In 2024, the reported injury accidents amounted to 1,284, a decrease of 106 accidents, or 7.6 per cent when compared to 2023. Moreover, non-injury accidents amounted to 15,319, an increase of 295 accidents or 2.0 per cent over the cases reported during previous year (Tables 2-3). The second quarter of 2024 recorded the highest number of accidents (4,436) while the third quarter of 2024 recorded the highest number of fatalities (5) (Chart 1).
Additional Tables and Charts
Tables
Chart 2. Road traffic casualties by age group and gender
October-December 2024
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