At the end of 2003, the total population stood at 399,867 and there were 504 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants. Malta has one of the highest population densities and levels of car ownership rates in Europe (75 per cent in 2002). This increases pressure on the island's limited land and space resources particularly when it is concentrated in a relatively small percentage of land area in the island (roughly 27 per cent of the total land area).

This however does not come cheap. In 2003 there were 13,963 road accidents in which 1,186 persons were injured. This amounts to about 109 injuries per month (see Table 1). Among these were 16 fatalities.

The costs associated with an injury or a fatality on the road are very high. They generally include, among other things, the value of a life lost in the case of a fatality and the health and police costs involved on the accident site. Thus, road safety is not only a priority in terms of saving lives but also in trying to reduce the total cost of accidents.

This is a further reason for vehicle owners to be aware of road safety and the regulations which are there primarily to reduce accidents. Road safety in Malta has always been a priority. From the introduction of crash helmet and seat belt use in 1995 up until the recent introduction of VRT to remove dangerous vehicles, changes to the driving test to improve the quality of drivers on the road and road safety campaigns for children. Road accident information is also being considered vital to road accident investigation and for the provision of mitigation measures.

The introduction of compulsory use of seat belts for front seat passengers and drivers was introduced very successfully in 1995. Subsequently, in 2004, this policy has been adopted for rear seat passengers. January marked the introduction of compulsory use of rear seat belts for children while in July the legislation was extended to adults.

Recent statistics compiled by the Malta Transport Authority indicate that 99 per cent of drivers wear a seat belt. Front seat passengers also have a high compliance rate with 93 per cent of adults and 90 per cent of children using the seat belt. These figures relate to the 1995 legislation.

The picture however is not so good with regard to the use of seat belts by rear seat passengers as per the 2004 legislation. Unfortunately, only 43 per cent of adults and 24 per cent of children sitting at the rear of vehicles use seat belts (see Table 2). These are alarming figures when one considers the high percentage use of rear seats by children and the higher risk of injury by children sitting unrestrained in the rear seats. In fact, 25 per cent of injured rear seat passengers in 2003 were children under the age of 12.

The new regulations that have been introduced in January 2004 require that:

¤ Children under three years of age sitting on the front seat must wear an appropriate child restraint device and those sitting at the rear must wear such a device if available.

¤ Children aged 3 - 11 and under 1.5 metres in height sitting on the front seat must wear a child restraint device and when not available an adult seat belt must be worn and those sitting at the rear must wear such a device or an adult seat belt if available

¤ In both cases, the criminal responsibility lies with the driver of the vehicle.

The introduction of legislation, such as that providing for compulsory seat belt use, is a very important measure to improve road safety on our roads. Studies have shown that the use of seat belts reduces by 45 per cent the risk of death and by 50 per cent the risk of grievous injury.

The policy of the Malta Transport Authority is very clear with regard to the target of reducing injury accidents by 50 per cent by 2014. With this in mind, the authorities will continue to legislate to try and mitigate the risks involved in road accident injuries.

Table 1 - Road traffic accidents in the Maltese islands 1989-2003

Table 2 - Rear seat belt use

The authors work for the Malta Transport Authority.