Drivers and passengers who fail to wear a seatbelt will soon have to pay stiffer fines as the government attempts to clamp down on offenders.

Between January and mid-October, police and wardens issued 10,173 citations for seatbelt offences. Most of these, 9,359, involved drivers, but 462 applied to passengers and 352 to children.

In view of these figures, the government is considering introducing tougher punishments for offenders.

The review of fines will also cover motorists who use their mobile phones while driving and will target those who discard objects from their vehicle.

In the UK, motorists caught talking on their mobile phone or sending a text message while driving could be jailed. In the most serious cases they are charged with dangerous driving, which carries a two-year maximum jail sentence and an unlimited fine.

In Malta, fines are negligible in comparison. Drivers, passengers and children fall into the same category and the maximum fine is €58. The same maximum fine is imposed for people caught using their mobile phone while driving.

Ironically, the fine doubles to €116 for motorists who drive on a reserved lane, such as a bus lane.

Statistics show that Malta has the lowest death rate from traffic accidents. With a fatality rate of 25 deaths per million of the population, Malta tops the table as the safest country, followed by the Netherlands with 45 deaths and Sweden with 49 fatalities.

But despite these figures, with more than 300,000 cars on Malta's roads, traffic accidents are numerous.

In 2008, a total of just over 15,000 traffic accidents were reported. Between January and last September, there were 10,515 recorded accidents.