While it may not seem like it, road traffic casualties have gone down by almost 15% when compared to the same period in 2017, the National Statistics Office of Malta has found in its latest report on road accidents in Malta.

The newly released data analysed the state of traffic and road accidents in Malta between the months of April and June, 2018. The results shed some light on how many deaths, injuries, and accidents occurred during that time, as well as showing some very interesting tidbits about when to avoid the Maltese roads.

1. There were nine fatalaties

Four drivers, three passengers, one pedestrian and one cyclist died after being involved in traffic accidents. There were seven males and two females, and the four driver fatalities comprised of two motorcyclists and two passenger car drivers.

Among the three passenger fatalities, two were on-board a coach/private bus and one on a passenger car. Six cyclists were hit by passenger cars that lead to one fatality, one grievously injured and four sustained slight injuries (Table 8)

2. And there were 3,837 accidents in total

During this three month period, Malta experienced 3,837 road accidents, with is 6.0% less compared to the same period in 2017.

3.The most accidents occur in the Northern Harbour district

A whole 1,376 cases – 35.9% of the total – happened in the Northern Harbour region, and the most accidents occurred in Birkirkara with 298 cases.

4. The most dangerous time to be on the road is between 12:00 and 15:00

Though these hours traditionally were siesta hours, the three lunch hours are when the most road traffic accidents occur, with 826 cases happening in those hours in just three months.

The 09:00-11:59 time bracket featured 793 cases, while the least amount of cases were recorded between The least number of accidents occurring daily took place between 03:00-05:59 with 83 cases.

5. Mondays are (literally) the worst

The highest road traffic casualty rate occurred on Mondays, reaching 21.3% of the total casualties; while the highest number of road traffic accidents (600) occurred on Thursdays.

Sundays topped the highest casualty-to-accidents ratio with 17.3% compared to an overall average of 12.2%.

6. There were a total of 470 injuries on the roads

Accounting for drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians, there were 85 grievous injuries, alongside 361 slight injuries and 15 insignificant injuries.

7. Males are more often injured than women

Men outnumbered women in all injury categories throughout the second quarter of 2018.

8. And the largest share of injuries occur to those in the 41 – 59 age bracket

31% of all casualties fell in the 41-59 age bracket, and the least injured age bracket was between the ages of 11-17.

Did you expect these statistics?

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Johnathan Cilia

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]