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During the fourth quarter of 2022, road traffic accidents and casualties increased when compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Road traffic fatalities amounted to seven.

 The number of reported traffic accidents during the fourth quarter of 2022 reached 3,816, up by 3.2 per cent over the same period in 2021. The Northern Harbour district registered the most accidents with 1,297 cases or 34.0 per cent of all accidents (Table 1). Road traffic casualties increased by 0.5 per cent to 381 over the same period in 2021. Grievously injured persons amounted to 84, and consisted of 52 drivers, 5 passengers and 27 pedestrians/cyclists/others. The injuries suffered by three drivers and four pedestrians proved fatal (Tables 4 - 6). During this quarter, two more fatalities occurred when compared to the same period in 2021 (Chart 1). The majority of those grievously injured were males (73.8 per cent). Moreover, five of the fatalities that occurred during this quarter involved males while the two other fatalities involved females. 34.9 per cent of the casualties involved persons in the 26 to 40 age-bracket (Table 5).

The largest number of road traffic casualties (54.9 per cent) involved passenger cars, followed by motorcycles (32.0 per cent) and goods-carrying vehicles (7.3 per cent). The seven fatalities included two drivers colliding vehicle with vehicle, a vehicle crashing into a property killing the driver and four pedestrians being hit by a vehicle. Cyclists involved in traffic accidents amounted to 11, where two suffered insignificant injuries, five suffered slight injuries and four suffered grievous injuries (Tables 6-7). Road traffic casualties resulting from accidents between vehicles topped the list with 67.5 per cent of all road traffic casualties (Table 7). The highest number of road traffic casualties occurred on Wednesdays with 72 casualties, and the highest number of road traffic accidents also occurred on Wednesdays with 614 cases or 16.1 per cent of the total (Table 8). The time bracket during which most road traffic accidents occurred was 09:00 - 11:59 with 853 cases or 22.4 per cent of the total, followed by the 12:00 - 14:59 time bracket with 850 cases. The least number of accidents occurring daily took place between 03:00 - 05:59 with 62 cases (Table 9). The highest incidence of road traffic accidents was registered in Birkirkara with 246 cases, followed by Ħal Qormi and Il-Mosta, with 201 and 193 cases respectively (Table 10, Map 1 and Chart 5). L-Imtarfa, Il-Munxar, Ta’ Kerċem, San Lawrenz and L-Għasri registered less than five road traffic accidents while IlFontana did not register any road traffic accidents (Map 1 and Table 10).

The Northern Harbour and Northern districts recorded a decrease in road traffic accidents, while the other districts recorded increases in road traffic accidents, when compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year. The Southern Harbour district registered the highest percentage increase in road traffic accidents at 16.9 per cent, followed by the South Eastern district at 11.7 per cent (Table 1 and Map 2).

Annual Perspective

The number of fatalities during 2022 reached 28, up by 19 when compared to the previous year. In 2022, 1,341 injury accidents were reported, a 5.2 per cent increase (66 accidents) when compared to 2021. Moreover, 14,372 non-injury accidents were reported, an 11.8 per cent increase (1,512 accidents) when compared to the previous year (Tables 2-3). The second quarter of 2022 recorded the highest number of accidents (4,240) while the first quarter of 2022 recorded the highest number of fatalities (9) (Chart 1).

ARTICLE WRITTEN BY NSO

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