Malta lacks data on drink-drive road deaths

Malta is among six EU member states identified in an EU-wide road safety survey as lacking important data with regard to road deaths caused by drink driving.

According to the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), which published the fourth Road Safety Performance Index in Brussels yesterday, the Maltese authorities were unable to provide details of how many of the road fatalities resulted from drink driving despite the low number of such accidents when compared to other EU member states.

According to the survey, Malta had 17 fatal road accidents in 2005.

The other countries criticised along the same lines by the ETSC are Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Sweden.

"In these countries, there is insufficient data or no data at all, and, thus, no comparison on year to year changes in drink driving deaths can be made," the study comments.

The report calls such a situation alarming because the progress achieved by the countries in question in reducing road deaths related to alcohol can't be measured.

Overall, the survey shows that in the countries where data is available, the biggest difference was found in the Czech Republic where deaths from alcohol-related accidents dropped by more than 11 per cent per year faster than other road deaths.

In Germany, drink driving deaths dropped by more than six per cent and in Poland by almost five per cent a year. Slovakia, the Netherlands, Latvia, Austria and Greece also followed a positive trend.

On the other hand, in Hungary, Lithuania, Finland, Spain and the UK, there has been an increase in drink driving deaths in the period 1996-98 to 2005.

The report calls for stricter enforcement of legal blood alcohol limits, coupled with awareness-raising campaigns.

Jorg Beckmann, ETSC executive director, said it appears that there is a trend to lower blood alcohol limits in European countries. However, the enforcement of such limits is another issue.