Elderly man dies in Zejtun road accident

An elderly man from Zejtun died in a traffic accident in his hometown yesterday morning, the police said.

The 73-year-old was hit by a Hyundai driven by a 30-year old man from Marsascala at about 6.15 a.m.

An ambulance was called but the man died before it arrived.

Duty Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna appointed experts to assist him in an inquiry. Police investigations are continuing.

The Zejtun local council said it had been asking for Triq Anton Buttigieg - where the road fatality occurred - to be declared an arterial road but the relevant authorities had never taken any action.

The council said it had made a number of proposals to the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) to make the road less dangerous, by, for example, installing pelican lights at the junction with Triq Marsaxlokk, where a fatal accident had taken place, setting an official speed limit, put up mobile speed cameras and have a service road on the inhabited side. All the council's proposals, it said, were rejected, either by the Roads Ministry or by the ADT.

A spokesman for the Roads Ministry said when contacted that although the council made various requests for pelican crossings and traffic-calming measures it did not provide the Traffic Management Unit with the feedback and information requested and the unit was not in position to accede to the requests.

He said the unit had considered installing a cycle lane, running from Bir-id-Deheb roundabout to Marsascala, which would also include the redesign of the road space of Triq Buttigieg. However, the spokesman said, the council had objected to such plans.