Most road traffic accidents occurred on Tuesdays, statistics say

During the second quarter of 2024, a total of 4,436 traffic accidents were recorded, with Tuesdays recording the highest number of accidents at 752 cases, data published by the National Statistics Office shows.

The data published on Wednesday showed that the percentage of traffic accidents increased by 4% over the same period in 2023 whilst road traffic casualties decreased by 7.9% to 409 over the same period in 2023.

The towns that saw the least number of road traffic accidents were in Gozo at San Lawrenz, L-Għasri and Ta’ Kerċem, which registered less than five road traffic accidents. In contrast, the highest registered number of traffic accidents was seen in Birkirkara with 294 cases, followed by Qormi and St Paul’s Bay, with 222 and 218 cases respectively.

The largest number of road traffic casualties (47.9%) involved passenger cars, followed by motorcycles (37.9%) and goods-carrying vehicles (8.1%) whilst Cyclists involved in traffic accidents amounted to 12, where four suffered grievous injuries, six suffered slight injuries and two suffered insignificant injuries.

Road traffic casualties resulting from accidents between vehicles topped the list with 65.5% of all road traffic casualties.

Injured persons amounted to 102 during the second quarter, and consisted of 64 drivers, 8 passengers and 30 individuals classified as pedestrians, cyclists, or others. The injuries suffered by two drivers and one pedestrian proved fatal.

During this quarter, one less fatality occurred when compared to the same period in 2023.

The majority of those grievously injured were males (72.5%). The fatalities that occurred during this quarter involved three males with 36.9% of the casualties’ involving persons in the 26 to 40 age brackets.

The highest number of road traffic casualties occurred on Fridays with 76 casualties, and the highest number of road traffic accidents occurred on Tuesdays with 752 cases or 17.0 per cent of the total.

Between 12:00pm and 2:59pm, there were around 971 cases recorded and around 933 cases were recorded during the time bracket of 9:00am to 11:59am. The least number of accidents occurring daily took place between 03:00am to 05:59am with 55 cases.

Moreover, all districts recorded an increase in road traffic accidents, except the Northern Harbour district, which recorded a slight decrease. The Gozo and Comino district registered the highest percentage increase in road traffic accidents at 23%, whereas the Western district recorded the lowest percentage increase at 3%.