Woman killed in Zejtun head-on crash

I would like to offer my condolences to the family of this person.
Whilst not entering into the merits of how this accident happended, being very familiar to this street, I would like to have the entity responsible for this street (Zejtun Local Council or ADT), to take into consideration to install crash barriers along this street. The matter consists in the fact that being one of the main roads leading to Zejtun from Tal-Barrani, it is heavily used by vehicular traffic coming to this town, but on both of its sides there is a considerable number of trees on both of its sides. The matter is that if any car goes out of control, the first thing that it is goinng to hit is a tree. This person is the second fatality in this street and in my modest opinion, I think that the installation of crash barriers in this street would surely improve traffic safety in this street.

Condolences to Elaine's family and friends. Each and every life is precious. Please do something now before we put another family (maybe yours or mine) in a similar situation. Without going into this particular accident I would like to voice my worries. It's imperative that roads be mended immediately when potholes uncover. However living in a hectic life as ours, drivers (not everyone) tend to speed up unawares. I believe we do not need speed limits, endless signs, speed cameras and seatbelts, but we just need motor vehicles with a moderate speed limit. Only that will ensure that drivers do not overspeed. In Malta we do not have long distances and it will only take a few more minutes. This will make our roads safer and driving less stressful. Moreover it will give us parents more peace of mind when our youngsters are out on the roads. Those who love speed - go to Hal Far race track and have the time of your lives. It's safer there though not a guarantee.

Driving in Malta is a nightmare and a main reason is that most roads have just a single lane each way. If you find someone driving at 40km/h, you naturally try to overtake - most people don't just go out 'sunday-driving'. Blaming speed in Malta where the traffic is constant and the limit is anyway 80km/h is a joke. I think many accidents happen because people can drive at 30km/h and annoy the string of cars behind them until they are forced to overtake them. The upper speed limit on the arterial roads could be increased, and lower speed limits be introduced. But even if new laws to ban driving under 50km/h in some secondary, one-lane roads (e.g. coastroad) are introduced - does anyone believe they will be enforced? Not even a simple thing like using the indicator is adhered to and enforced! The new government should set out on a complete reform of anything to do with transport - something which was not done in the last 40 years (or so it appears!). Public roads are improving but still a long way to go. Public driving? A nightmare - no laws are enforced, what are the traffic wardens doing? No indicator - get a fine! That's the way forward in a civilized country. Public buses (not to mention the old 'Jamaican' buses)? Useless - they do not adhere to any times in intermediate stops. The service is worse than in some 3rd world countries. Private transport? Errr taxis? they were supposed to get a meter installed, but when I used one recently the driver resorted to the usual price 'dealing' (in 2008 - unbelievable). No wonder they rely on ripping tourists off to survive, because no one else uses them. Taxi service in Malta never evolved, if it can be called a service. Well, good luck to the new transport minister/p. secretary!

My sincerest condolences to the victims family.Rest in peace Elaine you were to young to die!
Unfortunately from reading some of the comments it seems that they blame the state of the roads which in a lot of cases is true, but as being a driver myself I see it is more down to negligent driving.Some stupidty i see is beyond belief ,having said that although i am a careful driver I am the first to admit that i sometimes make stupid mistakes which after, i say to myself what was I thinking so maybe if we all just take a good look at ourselves maybe we could make a difference on the roads.

I believe the problem with speeding is two-fold. You have people who speed for no apparent reason which is wrong, and you have people going at 35km/h on a by-pass which is also wrong!! People who drive excessively slowly are a great danger on our roads since most of the time they are the people to blame for head on collisions like this one. I am not saying this to condone speeding but just to make a point that people who go excessively slowly should be penalized as happens in other countries outside Malta. Secondly a solution to make everyone obey the law is to not inform the drivers where the street cameras are – but guess few of us would actually agree to that right!

May I remind all of us drivers that car transportation is statistically the most dangerous means of transportation worldwide. So its not the road, the pot hole and Malta. Unfortunately thousands die daily worldwide and the reason is often - speed. Education is not enough as rushing to keep up with today's pace and road rage sometimes override education and that is when accidents happen. 2 effective means that really worked in slowing down speed in Malta were the introduction of speed cameras and speed killing humps. So keep installing these speed reduction means. Rest In Peace Elaine

I am living and driving in Malta for the past 14 years and it is just amazing what is going on on Maltese roads. No rules, no respect no nothing! I just wonder what they teach them in driving schools! Do they teach them that street signs are there for a reason? Do they teach them that one should use the indicator and not the horn instead? Wild West.......!

I really agree with what Philip Cortis had to say. Well done Philip. Although accidents do, and always will, happen, the quality of our driving is what we, as a nation, have to work on. My condolences to the family of this young victim.

I agree with Charles Busuttil Dougall. Can someone from this paper who reads these comments inform the respective authorities who at the moment seem in dormant mode about the M'xlokk traffic lights + the piece of road in front of it which has been left unfinished. That project started a month before the elections and while they were proceding at a good pace at the time, nothing had been done after March 8th. Fine but at least set up the lights once again. I come out of M'xlokk every day and it is truly dangerous at times to get into that main artery. Please help....thx

Why does this fetish for crash scene photos persist? It's only one stop short of showing a dead body and equally distasteful and disrespectful of the victim and her family.

Ironically the traffic lights at Tal-Barrani, which is just 30 seconds drive away from where this accident happened, were out of order for most of the time today. Very dangerous potholes have surfaced months and even years ago and still remain un-repaired. Careless drivers still do what they want as no action is taken almost everytime.

What is happening to this country? Do we still have a Government or a Police force at the moment? It seems that after the last election everybody went into a very deep hibernation leaving the country to progress by itself.

R.I.P and condolescence to the victims family.

Don't know why some people are saying that the accident happened because of the road. Noone knows yet why it happened as yet. I pass often from that road and is not a bad road as some people described it. Always accidents happen because of negligance from drivers - so educating drivers is the issue. However it seems that people are not willing to listen, and this is the same for all the accidents that are happening in the construction industry, albeit all the compaign that is being done right now. And this is unfortunate and stupidity at the same time.

My condolences go to the victim's relatives. RIP.

Some distance away from the spot where this fatal accident took place, on the road leading to Marsaxlokk, there is a set of traffic lights that has been out of order for more than two months. What are we waiting for, another fatal accident ,when one considers that coming out of Marsaxlokk one drives straight into a traffic artery? Can anyone who is in a responsible position to rectify this please take immediate action?

First of all, my condolences go the this victim's family.

That everyone must die someday or another is the reality of life but its seems driving to work and not returning back due a fatal collision, is becoming more real.

Don’t you think that paying respects to the family of the deceased is in order? Your contribution to road safety or otherwise could be posted on another day.
My heartfelt sympathy to the young woman’s family.

I fully agree with Mr. Costa's comments on this issue. While driving, I believe that one must never forget the fact that this daily activity for most Maltese, should not be taken for granted. It is not the point to blame the Police, the state of the road, the traffic signs and all other bad traffic conditions. We drivers, have to keep a closer eye to such hazards, especially when we really know that these exist. For this reason, I believe that it is us, who should take the first step to try and make this precarious situation better, by practical choices, we can make on a daily basis. One example that comes to mind is avoiding rushes and excessive speeds to get to work on time.

My condolences go to the victim's relatives.

Every day I see many drivers chatting on the mobile while driving their cars.
We do not know the cause of this tragic accident, but I am sure many accidents are caused by inattention/ bad habits, such as talking on the mobile while driving.

Without entering into the merits of the accident in question, that road is unfortunately conducive to speeding and if you happen to lose control you either end up in the car on the opposite side or else wrapped around a tree which i believe happens to be as deadly as an electricity pole......

Although speeding is never justified, further road safety enhancements especially where 'exposed' trees and poles come into play will help in this respect. I had written once on the situation at the Tal Barrani road, i.e. the bend there is after you skip the Zejtun traffic lights. While it makes sense to install a crash barrier at the bend, something which currently is in place, it also makes a lot of sense to extend it further down the road, as quite a number of times a car loses control in that bend however ends up on the opposite side further down. I've seen quite a couple of crashes there and unfortunately people have lost their lives too... ..till this very day nothing has been done.

Perhaps the roads can be better but ultimatly it's us, the drivers that have the greater responsability. When I was younger, I was involved in several road accidents. The last accident I had, 9 years ago, I'm lucky that I'm alive. Now, for the last 9 years, I have a clean record. The difference is myself.

No one knows how this accident happened so its useless to blame any of the drivers. It's not a question of speed... one thing driving fast, one thing driving dangerously. Driving @ 100kmph in a bypass is one thing, zigzagging between cars in the middle of the city centre is another thing. Condolences to the girl's family. The question one could pose is: Should we have guard rail along the roads where trees are planted since the major fatalities are caused by Drivers crashing into trees & shouldn't we impose harsher fines on dangerous driving?

This is very sad - another young life gone.
What the cause is in this particular case I don't know but I do wonder why the bus is straddling a solid white line - was if over the line before or after the accident.
Maltese drivers are no better or worse than any in Europe - they do however have to contend with some extremely bad roads and often none-existent, bad or ill thought out road markings. In addition, despite all the new road construction, very few roads seem to be cambered - or if cambered, often cambered the wrong way.
The comment about slow drivers is very accurate - slow drivers cause road rage, especially when on a fast road (80kph) like the Coast Road - a slow vehicle causes massive traffic hold ups and often drivers taking exceptionally dangerous risks to try and get clear.

I find the comments to this article to be rather futile. The sad fact is that the overwhelming majority of traffic accidents are caused by human error. Bad roads, low lighting, and so on are not the major factor in traffic accidents - although we tend to try and place the blame on them sometimes. Moreover, while it is true that underspeeding can be dangerous, I don't think this is so much the case on Maltese roads - underspeeding is mostly dangerous on highways in foreign countries. In Malta, generally speaking it is better to drive slowly - driving slow may cause the drivers behind you to become irritated - I think one usually prefers to be irritated and alive than driving at 80kph in heaven.

It is high time that discipline on the road is enforced. We tend to see over speeding as the main problem of our roads but few of us dare to say that under speeding is as hazardous as over speeding. It is not understandable that in 2008, with all the technology we boast of, we still allow slow moving vehicles on the fast lanes. People do not seem to make a difference between fast and slow lanes, or do not care.

The same goes for horse-driven carts or carriages. Roads - and by roads I mean anything more important than a village alley - are no place for horses.

An old friend of mine died in the same road around 4-5 years ago, a few trees down there is an emblem with his portrait on. Im sorry to hear that there was a similar accident . I hope i don't know the victim :(

It is incredible that wardens and traffic police are only seen at traffic lights and at round abouts during rush hours. For the rest of the day drivers are at liberty to drive at what speed they like. This is unacceptable and should be remedied soon. More concentration should be made on over speeding than on minor parking offences. Where are the police and wardens' patrols?

The killing fields takes place in cambodia.

Long time ago there was a Vietnam film,called The killing fields.Our roads have a similar name;THE KILLING STREETS!!