Thanks to the short distances between its towns and villages, Malta remains one of safest places in the European Union with regards to traffic fatalities. But statistics show that reckless behaviour is still very widespread, James Debono discovers.
Weekend revelry might be the major cause of most accidents in Malta. 45% of all traffic accidents in 2008 and slightly more than half those in 2007 occurred between Friday and Sunday. Friday, which saw 17.1% of all accidents in 2007, was the most dangerous day of the week for drivers. On the other hand Tuesday registered the lowest number of accidents (11.5%).
1,209 traffic casualties were reported in 2007. Of these, 695 drivers sustained injuries: 550 suffered slight injuries, and 137 suffered grievous ones. Eight accidents were fatal.
During the same year, 272 passengers and 127 pedestrians suffered slight injuries, while 45 passengers and 64 pedestrians suffered grievous ones. One passenger and five pedestrians lost their lives.
The largest number of casualties occurred in the 25-39 age group. Birkirkara was the locality with the highest rate of traffic accidents, with 956 cases. Qormi and Marsa followed with 889 and 856 reported accidents respectively.
While 75.9% of casualties were caused by passenger cars, only 13.2% were caused by motorcycles.
Men are more likely to suffer from road related incidents than women. 530 males and 419 females suffered slight injuries. Moreover while 175 men suffered grievous injuries, only 71 women sustained similar injuries.
The discrepancy reflects the prevalence of male drivers on Maltese roads. In 2007, there were 132,555 male license-holders and 82,275 female motorists holding a driver’s license.
14,013 or 64.4% of all Maltese cars were more than 10 years old. 859 or 72% of coaches and buses, and 33,061 or 76% of all lorries, were over ten years old.
Birkirkara was the locality with the highest road accident rate for both periods, trailed by Qormi and Marsa.
While the number of traffic accidents increased by 509 between 2006 and 2007, in 2008 road traffic accidents totaled 15,007-a decrease of 1,131 cases over 2007. Overall, the Northern Harbour district still registered most traffic accidents, 5,957 or 39.7% of the total cases for 2008.
On an annual basis, 1,172 traffic casualties were reported in 2008, implying a decrease of 3.1% over 2007. There were 15 traffic fatalities in 2008, an increase of one case over the previous year. Of these, 11 were males and four were females. Most male and female casualties occurred in the 25-39 age group.
Drinking and driving The NSO lifestyle survey conducted in 2007 revealed that 13.9% of the population have driven a car after consuming three alcoholic drinks. While only 6.8% of females have engaged in this reckless behavior, 21.4% of males have done so.
The survey showed that those in the younger age groups are most likely to drive a car after consuming three or more alcoholic drinks. In fact, 20.1% of those between the age of 18 to 24 and 25.8% of those between 25 and 34 have driven a car after having consumed three drinks or more. And according to the NSO survey the more educated people are, the more likely they are to drink and drive. While 24.2% of university educated persons have driven a car after consuming 3 alcoholic drinks, only 19% of people with a post secondary education and 15% of those with a secondary education have done likewise.
People from the south eastern region were the most likely to drink and drive.
A Maltatoday survey published in February 2006 survey also revealed that as regards drinking and driving, current law enforcement is scarce and ineffective. In fact only 0.7% of respondents have ever been stopped by the police to have their alcohol levels measured with a breathalyser test.
In the absence of a deterrent, 14% of respondents admitted to drink some alcohol before driving, albeit if most respondents claimed that they only consumed moderate amounts of alcohol before driving their cars.
Males were less considerate than females. Only 0.5% of females, compared to 7% of males, admit to heavy drinking and driving. And while only 4% of females admitted a moderate consumption of alcohol before driving, 20% of males did likewise.
The state of the roads Apart from the booze, even the state of the roads posed a risk to drivers. Potholes on the Maltese roads have left nearly half of the Maltese drivers with punctures and other damages to their cars after a month of uninterrupted rain showers last January a MaltaToday showed.
A staggering 71% said their cars were damaged from potholes in 2008. Another half claim to have sustained more than two punctures or other damages in the same year due to the bad state of the roads. Unsurprisingly, only 2.3% believe Maltese roads are in good shape.
When asked about the state of the roads in their locality respondents from the southern part of the island were the most negative while Gozitans were the most positive. While only 33.3% of Gozitans consider the roads in their locality to be bad, in the harbour area and the south west of the island dissatisfaction with the roads rises to 73%.
Malta safest nation Despite widespread drink driving and dangerous roads, Malta remains safer than most European countries as regards traffic fatalities.
The low fatality rate on the roads can by attributed to the fact that driving distances in Malta are short and since the roads are congested, it is more difficult for drivers to put their foot down or fall asleep at the wheel.
The highest rate of road accidents in the EU27 was registered in Sterea Ellada (308 deaths per million inhabitants) in Greece, followed by the province of Luxembourg (290) in Belgium and Peloponnisos (232) in Greece.
The number of deaths in road traffic accidents was below 50 per million inhabitants in 33 EU27 regions. Eleven of these regions were found in the United Kingdom, six in Germany, five in the Netherlands, three in Spain, two in Sweden, one each in Belgium, France, Austria, Portugal and Finland, as well as Malta. The lowest rate of road accidents was found in Hamburg (16 deaths per million inhabitants) in Germany, Vienna (20) in Austria, Berlin (22) and Bremen (24) both in Germany, as well as in Malta (25).
As a country Malta also the lowest death rate from traffic accidents according to a report published by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM). With a fatality rate of 25 deaths per million population, Malta tops the table as the safest country followed by the Netherlands with 45 deaths and Sweden with 49 fatalities.
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