Four men died in traffic accidents between October and December last year.
The National Statistics Office said that in this period, 3,482 traffic accidents were reported, an increase of 185 cases over the corresponding period in 2010.
Increases were recorded in all districts with the biggest percentage increase (15.1 per cent) in the south eastern district.
The northern harbour district registered the most accidents - 1,368, or 39.3 per cent of the total.
A total 368 casualties were reported, 237 involving drivers. The fatalities also included three drivers.
206 drivers suffered slight and 28 grievous injuries.
Another 31 people - 14 passengers and 17 pedestrians, suffered grievous injuries, while 99 - 69 passengers and 30 pedestrians, were slightly injured. One fatality was a pedestrian.
On a gender basis, slightly-injured persons numbered 305: 168 males and 137 females.
76.6 per cent of traffic casualties were caused by passenger cars, followed by motorcycles (11.7 per cent); 8.7 per cent were caused by goods-carrying vehicles.
The highest traffic casualty rate occurred on Saturdays, accounting for 17.9 per cent of the total. The highest accident rate was recorded on Fridays, totalling 586 cases, and the lowest on Sundays, with 362 cases
Saturdays topped the highest casualty-to-accident ratio. Birkirkara registered the highest rate of traffic accidents, with 229 cases. Marsa and Msida followed, with 228 and 185 reported accidents.
Annual perspective
There were 14,264 recorded accidents last year, an increase of 3.9 per cent over 2010.
The northern harbour district registered the highest number of traffic accidents with 5,451 cases, or 38.2 per cent of the total.
Last year there were 915 males and 662 females who suffered injuries in traffic accidents, of which 17 cases (14 males and three females) proved fatal.
75.4 per cent of casualties were caused by passenger cars, while 14.1 per cent were caused by motorcycles.
The largest number of traffic accidents in 2011 occurred in Birkirkara, with 921 cases, or 6.5 per cent of the total. Marsa and Qormi were next, with 808 and 792 reported accidents, respectively.