The number of reported traffic accidents in the third quarter of last year reached 3,727, an increase of 95 cases (2.6%) over the corresponding quarter in 2014.
Increases were recorded in most districts, the biggest percentage increase (24.3 per cent) being in the Western region. The Northern Harbour region registered the most accidents - 1,450 cases, or 38.9 per cent of the total, but there was a decrease of 10% in the south harbour region and almost 4% in Gozo.
429 traffic casualties including three fatalities - all pedestrians - were reported. 254 of the casualties involved drivers. 217 injuries in this group were slight and another 37 were reported as grievous.
During this period 32 other persons (Five passengers and 27 pedestrians) suffered grievous injuries, while 140 (81 passengers and 59 pedestrians) were slightly injured. The injuries suffered by three pedestrians proved fatal.
On a gender basis, slightly-injured persons in the fourth quarter of 2015 numbered 357: 198 men and 159 women. Grievously-injured persons totalled 69, the majority being men . The fatalities in the quarter involved two men and one woman. The majority of casualties were in the 25-39 age bracket.
Almost 69.2 per cent of traffic casualties were caused by passenger cars, followed by motorcycles at 19.6 per cent; 6.1 per cent were caused by goods-carrying vehicles.
The highest traffic accident rate occurred on Thursdays, accounting for 15.8 per cent or 588 cases, and the lowest on Sundays, with 386 cases even though the same day topped the highest casualty-to-accident ratios.
Most accidents occurred between 9am and noon, with 816 cases, or 21.9 per cent of the total. This was followed by the noon-3pm time bracket, with 782 cases (21.0 per cent of total). The least number of accidents occurring daily took place between 3-6am (90 cases or 2.4% ).
Birkirkara continued to register the highest rate of traffic accidents, with 318 cases. Qormi and Mosta were next, with 191 and 174 reported accidents respectively.
Annual perspective - 7.1% increase in traffic accidents last year
In 2015, the total number of recorded accidents totalled 15,504, an increase of 7.1 per cent over 2014. The Northern Harbour region registered the highest number of traffic accidents with 5,819 cases, or 37.5 per cent of the total.
Last year there were 1,711 persons (997 men and 714 women) who suffered injuries due to traffic accidents, of which 11 cases (eight men and three women) proved fatal.
The highest number of traffic accidents in 2015 occurred in Birkirkara totalling 1,187 cases, or 7.7 per cent of the total. Qormi and Marsa were next, with 776 and 749 reported accidents respectively.