Drivers hit with fines of €6.7m

Motorists forked out about €6.7 million in traffic fines last year, official statistics show.

Wardens were the busiest, having handed out 139,448 fines to the tune of €3.3m.

The police booked 83,909 people who paid out €2.2m.

Speed cameras flashed 27,509 times and roped in €1.1m from the pockets of disgruntled motorists caught pressing the accelerator excessively.

The figures emerged from the Transport Statistics 2012 report released by the National Statistic Office yesterday.

It transpires that both the police and wardens issued most of their fines for the same offences: illegal parking, running a red light, irreg-ular overtaking and lic-ence irregularities.

Traffic police were busiest in St Julian’s, Paola and Sliema while wardens dished out the fines mostly in Floriana, St Paul’s Bay and Valletta.

The bulk of the motorists caught by speed cameras exceeded the limit by over 15 kilometres an hour and most offences were carried out on Notary Zarb Road in Attard, Dun Karm Street in Birkirkara and the Regional Road in St Julian’s.

The NSO report also showed that, last year, the number of passenger cars on the road totalled 342,881, the vast majority, 77 per cent, being over 10 years old. Most of the cars, 255,136, had petrol engines, 83,515 used diesel and 294 had “alternative power sources”.

A total of 136,874 vehicle roadworthiness tests were carried out last year and 81 per cent passed. About 24,746 vehicles were re-tested with the majority passing the second time round. By the end of 2011, the total number of driving licences reached 229,867, with 139,473 belonging to male drivers. A total of 32.8 million commuters used public transport.