Malta Is The Only Country In Europe To See A Rise In Traffic Fatalities In Recent Years
Malta is the only country in the European Union to see an increase in road fatalities in recent years, the European Commission has unveiled in new data.
Between 2010 and 2017, every other country in Europe saw a decline in the amount of people dying on their roads year by year. However, Malta did not follow suit, being the sole country to see a rise in deaths.
Malta experienced 43 road deaths per million inhabitants in 2017, compared to 31 deaths per million in 2010
“Road safety is of course a responsibility shared with the member states, but I believe that the EU can do more to better protect Europeans,” said Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc. “The Commission is currently working on a series of concrete measures that we plan to announce in the coming weeks. The ambition is clear: saving more lives on our roads.”
Around 25,300 people died on European roads in 2017, 2% less than in 2016 and 20% less than in 2010.
The biggest declines in road fatalities occurred in Greece, Estonia and Latvia, with a -41%, -39% and -38% change respectively.
And while they were decreasing their numbers, Romania and Bulgaria still reported a traffic death rate of over 80 deaths per million inhabitants.
Aside from road fatalities, around 135,000 people were in some way injured on European roads in 2018, among them motorists, pedestrians and cyclists.
Severe car crashes have become a common sight in sunny Malta
Just recently, Malta experienced one of the worst weekends for road fatalities, with three women dying in a 24 hour span
Saturday evening, 23-year-old Laura Paffenholz lost her life after a motorcycle incident that led to a truck driving over her in Marsa. The very next eventing, 51-year-old Graziella Mallia and 31-year-old Fallon Mallia lost their lives in a car collision in Mgarr that left seven others injured.
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