The number of fatal traffic accidents and casualties on the nations roads increased in the first half of this year, the first such increase for five years, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.
Statistics from the ministry showed that a total of 109,343 traffic accidents were recorded between January and June, an increase of 4.8 percent compared with same period last year. Of those, 963 were listed in the A1 category, in which the accidents led to death immediately or within 24 hours. The number marked a 1.8 percent increase compared with last year.
Accidents classified as A1 claimed the lives of 999 people from January to June, an increase of 0.7 percent on the same period last year.
There was also an increase in the number of accidents listed in the A2 category, in which victims died after 24 hours or more, or suffered serious injuries. A total of 108,380 A2 accidents were recorded from January to June, an increase of 4.8 percent on the same period last year.
Deputy director of the ministry’s statistics department, Jao Chi-chien (饒志堅), said the numbers marked a reversal in the steady fall of A1 category accidents since 2006.
Jao’s presentation showed that there were 1,534 A1 traffic accidents in 2006, falling to 1,239 in 2007 and hitting a low of 946 last year.
Despite the seeming downward trend in A1 category accidents between 2006 and last year, the number of overall traffic accidents did not fall during the same period, rising from about 79,000 in 2006 to about 104,000 last year.
Further analysis of the data showed that motorcyclists, seniors and drunk drivers remained the three main categories of people most likely to be killed in traffic accidents.
Nearly half of all fatalities in the A1 category involved motorcycles. Driving under the influence was the cause of about 21 percent of A1 category accidents, while motorists failing to drive with due care and attention was responsible for about 17 percent of A1 accidents.
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