The Road Safety Unit (RSU) of the Ministry of Transport is reporting an additional ten deaths as a result of motor vehicle crashes during the week of November 26 to December 2.

This has pushed to 436, the number of people killed on the nation’s roads since the start of the year. This compares to the 487 who perished in road accidents in 2021.

All of the latest reported fatalities belong to the group of road users classified as most vulnerable by the RSU. They include six pedestrians, two motorcyclists, a pillion rider and a pedalcyclist.

Meanwhile, the 436 road deaths reported up to Friday resulted from 380 fatal collisions. A breakdown of the statistics reveals that the top three categories with the highest number of fatalities are: motorcyclists with 129, pedestrians, accounting for 94 and drivers of private motor cars accounting for 79 victims.

Further statistics reveal that 84 of those killed were male and 16 per cent were female. The main cause of fatalities continues to be motorists proceeding at excessive speed with no regard to road conditions.

In the meantime, fatal crashes have decrease by two per cent while fatalities have increased by one per cent when compared with the similar period in 2021.

Up to Friday, pedestrians accounted for 22 per cent of all road users killed this year with motorcyclists accounting for 30 per cent.

The RSU said 18 per cent of those killed were drivers of private motor vehicles while passengers of private motor vehicles account for 14 per cent.

The group described as most vulnerable account for a significant 58 per cent of all road users killed.