Traffic accidents decrease in Malta, rise in Gozo

The number of traffic accidents in the first three months of this year dropped by 224 to 3,639, the NSO said this morning.

It said the decrease was registered all across Malta but in Gozo traffic accidents increased from 156 in the first quarter of last year, to 171 this year.

The NSO said 161 drivers were injured in the three months - 125 suffered slight injuries, 34 suffered grievous injuries and two drivers died. During the same period, 77 other persons – 53 passengers and 24 pedestrians – suffered slight injuries while 24 – 14 passengers and 10 pedestrians – suffered grievous ones. In addition to the two driver fatalities, a pedestrian sustained fatal injuries .

Three quarters of casualties were caused by passenger cars while 11.4 per cent were caused by motorcycles.

In this quarter, the highest rate of traffic casualties was recorded on Mondays, with 20.5 per cent of the total. However, 45.2 per cent of all traffic casualties occurred during weekends, between Friday and Sunday.

Birkirkara was the locality with the highest rate of traffic accidents, with 240 cases. Qormi and Msida were close, with 227 and 214 reported accidents respectively.