Malta has very high road fatality rate per kilometre

Malta has the lowest road fatality rate in Europe per capita but its fatality rate per kilometre travelled is two to three times higher than the European average, according to Roads and Urban Development Minister Jesmond Mugliett.

Addressing the Road Safety Group meeting of the European Conference of Ministers for Transport, Mr Mugliett said Malta was in the unenviable position of having 680 motor vehicles registered for every 1,000 inhabitants.

The government, he told the meeting, had adopted a holistic approach to increasing road safety.

Through the assistance of the fifth Italo-Maltese financial protocol it was implementing a policy of proper road construction practices as a means to increase the safety of roads.

This project, said Minister Mugliett, was the largest road upgrade programme ever witnessed in Malta, involving the reconstruction of 16.5 kilometres of arterial and distributor roads.

The government had also introduced new legislation and other measures aimed directly at improving safety, such as the compulsory use of seat belts and crash helmets, the introduction of breathalyser testing and the vehicle roadworthiness test.

Speed limits had been revised and speed cameras introduced on the most dangerous stretches of road while the driving test for new drivers had been upgraded, he added.