66 killed in third quarter
Traffic fatalities in the third quarter 2010 figures are showing the same as last year when 66 people were killed in crashes.
“The normal trending down since the start of the year has slowed,” Deidrie Sinclair, statistician at the Road Safety Unit (RSU) told Auto yesterday.
Sinclair added that over the first two quarters 2010 there was a huge dip in traffic fatalities compared to the same period last year.
RSU figures now show that 215 people have been killed from 198 crashes this year compared to 255 deaths from 226 crashes over the same period last year.
The 66 deaths validates an anticipated spike in fatalities as the year closes.
The RSU is nonetheless optimistic that the final figures for this year will be much closer to the under-300 target set by traffic authorities.
Final quarter fatality figures are projected at 88 by the RSU, which tracks data on crashes across the islands.
“We are hoping for none, but a more realistically we could see about 88,” said Sinclair.
Ninety-two people were killed in traffic crashes between October and December last year, according to RSU data.
Meanwhile Sinclair reiterated that pedestrians now form the most vulnerable group of road users accounting for 37 per cent of the total fatalities.