Five injured in four road accidents

They say that people drive the way they walk. Notice the way most Maltese people walk..most of them trundle along as they are overweight, don't exercise and are not used to walking long distances; for these people half a kilometer is a long journey. Notice also that they are not used to walking in the rain; so they bump into people and objects as they scurry for shelter. In big countries people are used to walking for hundreds of meters in drizzling rain, they walk straight and know how to handle an umbrella. There is also lack of knowledge; 90% of the people have never studied elementary physics; they never heard about friction and tyre grip. They run their vehicles on old remoulded tyres which are not efficient even when the road surface is dry let alone when wet. The road surface is poor and it accumulates a lot of dirt, diesel from leaking vehicles (the majority), engine oil, rubber from tyre marks, for three or four months a year which is all washed away when the first rains come. So no wonder the accidents when we have the first rains. We need education and better road surfaces.

Yes the tarmac has something to do with it as it always does, but not allways after a long dry spell tyres leave minute particals off rubber as they wear down so on the road you have a lot of rubber so when it rains it then becomes like soap and what does soap do? Makes the road slippery as it does in the UK as well when they have a long dry spell not very often but when they do it also happens there, so its not only in Malta it happens they should drive accordingly to the weather conditions.

When was the last time most drivers in Malta actually checked the air pressure in their tyres? Probably months ago or even last year. When you do, don't bother relying on the reading from garage air compressors. Take your own gauge with you and check using that one. Nearly every time I rent a car (no matter what company), I invariably have to add pressure to the tyres. Under inflated tyres are dangerous in the dry and lethal in the wet, especially on a bend.

When it rains, it's simple, slow down and look ahead. Don't follow the car in front of you leaving 2 metres distance. This seems to be an alien concept to most drivers in Malta :)

Ha ha.

Way to go C Cassar. Let no one accuse you of chauvinism.

The state of the tyres is a great factor, and I do not just mean those that are worn down to the canvas.

Tyres are affected by extreme heat, and it seems most peple in Malta are happy to drive on cheap imported re-moulds. Tyres do not last forever and from my experiance of the cars I have driven in Malta too many people do not change them because they "look ok".

Go to a competent Mechanic, or in fact any motosport enthusiast and learn how important your tyres are in the rain, no just for grip but for stopping ability too.

What a load of rubbish excuses for want of a more appropraite word. There are two common factors here - rain and tarmac. And its definately the tarmac that is way sub-standard. Coupled with all the diesel fume residue and dust that lay naturually on our roads, all you need are surfaces that resemble more of a mirror than sand paper and you have a guaranteed recipe for ice slippery conditions. Having lived and therefore driven abroad for several years there is no question as to where the shortcomings are.

@ C Cassar - Ok agreed, there is alot of wrong doing on the roads, however the whole point of this article is that whenever there's rain, the roads turn so slippery and dangerous even at the lowest speed.

So, i would say there is something wrong with our roads. Alahares whenever there's rain abroad, there are so many accidents cause mainly its raining and worse .. they have snow!!

C Cassar, you start your letter well by pointing out that the problem is not the roads, its the driving culture, but you let yourself down by blaming many other factors which are simply not the issue here.

Indicators? Wardens? No no, its the DRIVERS! Plain and simple!

It really doesnt take a brain surgeon to realise that when its wet, slow down. Braking hard is much more difficult in wet conditions and the vehicle is more suseptable to skidding.

c.cassar - Oh so its only woman drivers who use mobiles while driving????? says who????

These four accidents were all due to drivers losing control of their vehicles. Maybe the tarmac in Malta has something to do with this but it is obvious that when the roads are wet with heavy rain or even with the first downpour on dry roads, drivers should take caution and drive more slowly and carefully obviously for their own safety and for other road users.

@Paul Busutil - it's nothing to do with the roads, it's the driving culture in Malta. This includes:

Never using indicators, hogging the outside lane of a 2 lane carriageway, broken/missing brake lights, broken/missing headlamps, pulling out in front of other traffic without the right of way, following the car in front too closely, using mobile phones whilst driving (in particular females), illegal parking causing an obstruction, worn out tyres. Need I go on?

Can someone here please ask me why they don't use their indiactors when turning in Malta? This is such a common occurence in Malta thata significant percentage of Times readers must fall into this category, so please, why don't you use them? I'm fascinated with your replies.

Also, there must be a few traffic police that read the times. Why oh why don't you stop vehicles that are clearly unroadworthy? I've followed police cars who are following cars with complete light units missing from the car or with the driver clearly on a mobile phone but the police do nothing about it. Again, please tell me why you don't do anything when it's directly in front of you? - Im all ears.

DOES THIS SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE TARMAC ON OUR ROADS?