Around 6,450 road traffic accidents recorded in first half of 2021

Between January and June 2021, 6,458 road traffic accidents were recorded in the Maltese islands, information by the National Statistics Office shows.

Accidents increased by 846 over the previous year, with 5,612 accidents recorded in 2020.

The region with the highest number of accidents was the Northern Harbour, with 2,291 accidents recorded, followed by the Northern region (1,162), the Southern Harbour (1,131), the Western region (826) and the South-Eastern region (672).

376 accidents were recorded in Gozo and Comino.

Birkirkara was the locality with the highest number of accidents at 463, followed by Qormi (376) and Mosta (327).

The Gozitan locality with the most accidents was Rabat (113), followed by Xewkija (68) and Ghajnsielem (46).

During the second quarter of 2021, road traffic casualties increased by 85% to 418 over the same period in 2020.

Grievously injured persons amounted to 96, and consisted of 65 drivers, 12 passengers and 19 pedestrians.

The injuries suffered by one driver proved fatal, according to the NSO.

77% of those grievously injured were males, while most casualties involved persons in the 26 to 59 age brackets.