Vehicles took up 82 percent of road space in the Male’ region by the end of last year, statistics have shown.
There were 115,928 registered vehicles in use in the Male’ region by the end of 2023, according to statistics included in the paper of the Male’ Fahi programme inaugurated on Wednesday night for road safety in the Male’ region.
Of the total, 22,714 vehicles were older than 15 years since the date of manufacture as of 2022. These vehicles alone took up a 67,399 square metre space of Male’, the paper showed.
The total area of Male’ roads is 390,000 square metres. The total space taken up by vehicles adds up to 319,402 square metres. When the vehicle space is deducted, only 18 percent is left for pedestrians in Male’.
Most of the vehicles used in the Male’ region are motorcycles. According to Transport Ministry statistics, there were 100,555 motorcycles in the Male’ region by the end of 2023. The number of buses, lorries and vans used in the region was a combined total of 1,828.
The largest number of vehicles since 2013 were registered last year, the statistics showed. Some 10,871 vehicles were registered last year.
According to the Transport Ministry’s statistics, 16,242 accidents were reported in the Male’ region during the past five years.
The majority of the cases involved cycle accidents. There were 833 cycle accidents on average every year in the Male’ region, information published in the paper showed.
The fewest accidents in the past five years occurred during the covid pandemic. In 2020 when Maldivians were under lockdown twice, 2,244 accidents were reported in the Male’ region.
