There was a significant 9% drop in traffic accidents in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, according to data issued on Wednesday by the National Statistics Office. Casualties were down by 11.9% but the number of fatalities, at four, was up by three over the same period in 2024.
The NSO said there were 3,468 reported accidents in the first three months of this year.
In contrast, there were 3,811 accidents in the first months of 2024, down by 0.3 per cent over the same period in 2023 according to an NSO press release issued in May last year.
The Northern Harbour district registered the highest number of accidents in the opening months of this year, at 1,178, almost a third of all accidents.
Road traffic casualties decreased by 11.9 per cent to 297 over the same period in 2024. Grievously injured persons amounted to 78, and consisted of 42 drivers, 13 passengers and 23 pedestrians/cyclists/others. The injuries suffered by three drivers and one pedestrian proved fatal. Three of the fatalities were men and one woman.
The majority of those grievously injured were males (69.2 per cent). 33.7 per cent of the casualties involved persons in the 26 to 40 age bracket.
The largest number of road traffic casualties (51.9 per cent) involved passenger cars, followed by motorcycles (31.6 per cent) and goods-carrying vehicles (8.1 per cent).
The fatalities included three drivers crashing into a property and a pedestrian being hit by a vehicle.
Cyclists involved in traffic accidents amounted to six, where three suffered grievous injuries and three suffered slight injuries.
Road traffic casualties resulting from accidents between vehicles topped the list with 65.0 per cent of all road traffic casualties.
The highest number of road traffic casualties occurred on Mondays with 59 casualties, and the highest number of road traffic accidents occurred on Fridays with 564 cases or 16.3 per cent of the total.
The highest number of road traffic accidents occurred between 9am and noon. with 778 cases or 22.4 per cent of the total, followed by those occurring between 13-6pm, with 755 cases.