Many traffic fatalities this summer

The summer traffic has claimed many fatal victims. 112 persons died in June, July and August this year. We have to go back to 1988 to find more fatalities in these three months. In that year 126 people died.

In the period from January to August this year a total of 224 people have lost their lives. Thus, the number of fatalities in the three summer months constitutes half of the fatalities so far this year. The average number of traffic fatalities from January to August in the period from 1993 to 1997 was 187.

According to preliminary figures 39 persons died in August. This was seven more than in the same month in 1997 and 12 more than the average for the last five-year period.

The number of cyclist fatalities has increased considerably in 1998 compared with the last three years. So far this year 20 people have lost their lives in cycling accidents. The corresponding figures for the period from January to August in 1995, 1996 and 1997 were eight, three and seven fatalities respectively. Of the 20 cycling fatalities this year, four were children between the ages of 7 and 14, while sixteen were over 25 years of age.

New Statistics
Road traffic accidents involving personal injury, August 1998.
The statistics are published monthly in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics and annually in Official Statistics of Norway (NOS), Road Traffic Accidents. For more information and e-mail contact: aud-marit.beck@ssb.no, tel. +47 62 88 54 20 or asbjorn.willy.wethal@ssb.no, tel. +47 62 88 54 15. Tables can be found in the Statistical Annex on pages 39-41.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 39, 1998