Two men die in Luqa crash

TRW O'Neill

Jul 11th 2009, 11:39

From the photo', it appears as though the tree is at the rear of a pavement , so even had there not been a tree at the spot, the car would still have hit a wall, without the aid of seat belts, the occupants of the car were in danger from collisions, so the answer seems to be wear the belts or risk danger of injury or death,why do people take this type of risk? are they being stupid or being Macho?take it as a warning to others, belt up! all the blogs about the roads being in poor condition are true, in that case how stupid to drive as though they are in good condition! drive to suit the conditions ; slow down at bad stretches. QED

charmaine mangion

Jul 10th 2009, 08:58

rest in peace and hope their families will have the help needed. rest in peace Guz you're granted eternal life................

P Borg

Jul 10th 2009, 08:55

Something must be done to this road. It is practically becoming a cemetary as yet another fatal accident has occured (this is not the first fatal accident).

What I suggest is that it is transformed to a one lane road with pavement on the sides (crash barriers look awful). The road leading to Gudja/Ghaxaq (the one where there is the Luqa cemetary) should be re-surfaced immediately (as it is worse than the moon) so that all traffic going to those two villages is deviated through that road. A roundabout just at the junction of that road (the main road and that street) should be set up as this would slow down cars in a natural way.

Giov DeMartino

Jul 10th 2009, 07:36

Soluzzjoni wahda hemm: Elf Lira multa kull min jaqbez li speed limit u l-istess lildawk li jinqabdu mhux iwieg\bu, IMMA JCEMPLU huma stess fuq il-mobajl. Multi horox hafna ghal min jinjora p.e. l-one way. Taraw kif tissolva l-problema. Imma dawn tieghi kollha paroli fil-vojt.

jschembri

Jul 9th 2009, 20:46

Jien dejjem nghid dik it-triq perikoluza. Kieku jien nghamilha lane wiehed ezatt (tipo bhal dik t' Attard) u dawk is-sigar nghamilhom wara crash barrier.

Gemma Micallef

Jul 9th 2009, 18:44

That street is reported as a 1 lane street, I got my license a couple of months ago and I asked the learner that question. That road should be 1 lane; I pass from there every day (morning and evening) and during the night it’s worse. With cars coming the opposite way and another behind you trying to overtake you cannot even calculate the central strip because of the lights of the opposite cars, I always nearly stop completely in that road when that happens. It’s the worst road in Malta apart from the potholes and everything else. Removing the central strip would increase collisions in that road. My prayers go out to the families

R.Gauci

Jul 9th 2009, 18:06

R.I.P and my condolences to the victim's families

@ Giov De Martino

Did someone mentioned that the Goverment is responsable for this accident?
NO !! People said the ADT or for you they are the same because you know it is being operated by the blue eyed boys?
Can you neglect the fact that this stretch of road and others around the islands are in a pitful state and they need to be rebuilded or at least get some kind of maintanence or you so much blinkered that you can't notice this ?!!!

Any kind of safety precuations like crash barriers,wearing seat belts,driving at the suggested speed ,visible road markings, good grip roads/ asphalt, VRT to check that everything is working properly in vehicles,routine checks and enforcing and education by traffic policemen/wardens equipped with speed guns/breathelyser tests and introducing the point licensing system are all good to at least reduce the fatalities on our roads.
Doing nothing of the above would be surely NOT the solution to this problem Mr. De Martino!!

victor borg

Jul 9th 2009, 16:09

sorry boys, speed had nothing to do with this accident. If you just had a look at both cars in the photo, they could not have been doing more that 30 mph. The reality is that hitting a tree at any speed is 5 times more devastating than hitting a wall, because the car wraps round the tree, whilst hitting a wall, except at 90 deg., will just bounce you off.
So speed cameras wouldn't have averted this tragic accident. Yes maybe they weren't using belts, but for me the sole cause of this accident is the uneven surface of the road, and with the slightest mistake you find you are heading for a tree. Just check from the records how many youths have lost control of their bikes and died hitting a tree.

GiovDeMartino

Jul 9th 2009, 16:02

Don'T start again blaming wardens, traffic signs, pot holes, govt....ecc/ Judging from the picture we can all reach our conclusion. In the past whenever there was an accident, several persons suggested the intro of the VRT. The situation has deteriorated. The testing of the vehicle is NOT the solution.

Joe Farrugia

Jul 9th 2009, 15:32

I would like to know how this street is reported to be a 2 lane special where this accident occurred?? where are the markings of a 2 way road ?? This road is very slippery and on the other side the road is disastrous and when raining it's like chadwick lakes @ it's best . Also adding to this, irresponsible motorists specially taxis speed up on this part of the road
It's useless we remove trees as then will finish smashed to the wall , the road have to be build with good tarmac

G Tabone

Jul 9th 2009, 14:03

I agree with what is being said about the road being so unsafe. If you go through this road both to the Airport and to Santa Lucia you can see the tree trunks with alot of marks on them. Having said all this the road has deteriorated such that it is very dangerous to drive on. I am here pointing out the stretch that takes you from the Luqa roundabout near dinitrol uptil the motorcycle showroom (Santa Lucia direction). THE ROAD IS DISASTROUS. On the other side of the road which takes you to the airport the road is PHOTOCOPY of the above mentioned.

I am disgusted that extentive works were done on the road from luqa roundabout to MIA and this road which is so frequented by thousands of cars has not yet been given some decent tarmac. ADT STAND UP AND DO SOMETHING!!!!!! ROADS WHICH YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE OF ARE TAKING PRECIOUS LIVES. and the road should be a double lane on each side!! it is possible to get it wider by demolishing some few meters from the fields! In marsascala bypass that is what is being done!!

Alfred Cassar

Jul 9th 2009, 13:58

This should serve as a proof that:
1) ADT, Wardens and Police enforcing the use of seat belts CAN SAVE LIVES
2) Some steets which are converted to single-lane instead of double-lane CAN SAVE LIVES
3) Speed cameras when correctly set with reasonable limits CAN SAVE LIVES

We normally complain about the above restrictions but it's much better to have these safety precautions on our roads than have more fatal accidents. People who tend to grumble about these measures should think twice before critisizing the authorities concerned.
Having said that I think that some form of barriers will make this particular road safer.

May God be with the victim's families at this very sad moment of their lives. And may the 2 victims rest in peace.

alex schembri

Jul 9th 2009, 13:41

Poles and trees need to have crash barriers as a sefety feature , no crash barriers once again . Safety on the road is not a priorty ?

Deo Catania

Jul 9th 2009, 13:24

@Christopher Pollard. article says: "The two men died on the spot. Sources close to the police said it seemed that neither the driver nor the passenger were wearing seat belts." and given that the car's passenger cell remaind intact it could quite well be true, victims suffered head injuries. The other car involved in this accident is only sightly less damaged than the victims' car and yet its driver was only slightly injured.

Patrick bellia

Jul 9th 2009, 12:49

When those trees are being rooted up, in that stretch of road at least 4 people died, how many more lifes need to be torn away to remove those trees?

Joseph Zammit

Jul 9th 2009, 12:41

My prayers go to the son ... must be a horrible experience !!!

Victor Borg

Jul 9th 2009, 12:08

All this talk and hullabaloo about the H1n1 ‘Pandemic’ in Malta, which is no worse than a flu bug that we have annually . Good business for the pharmaceutical companies.

Fact is that more people died on our awful roads just this year in Malta, than from this 'pandemic' flu in ALL of Europe. And what are we doing about this. Practically nothing.

Tony Gatt

Jul 9th 2009, 12:04

@ Mr. Aquilina

The article seemed to imply that it is a place where people do overtake. I come to Malta for 3 months every year and never cease to be astonished at the risks people take when driving.
As to not wearing seatbelts, it beggars belief that people still drive without them, as the article suggests. Cars can sustain a lot of damage but people can't.

Joseph Attard

Jul 9th 2009, 11:44

@Kenneth Roberts

Only option 2 is safe. Option 1 increases the risks of head on collisions.

Also what about a speed camera? In terms of risks this is very similar to the one in Attard exactly where there is the famous speed camera.

Joseph

Joseph Zammit

Jul 9th 2009, 11:40

This road is too narrow, with too much traffic, and hence, very dangerous to drive along.
There should be one carriageway only on each side of the road.
And speed limit not to exceed 30 ( thirty ) mph!

Ronnie Gauci

Jul 9th 2009, 11:38

Here is the proof that wearing a seatbelt can save your life.

M Caruana

Jul 9th 2009, 11:32

I agree 100% with Joseph Attard.
That strech of road is very dangerous, I tend to use it 8 times a day. For many times I managed to contact Luqa local council to take action and the reply is always...resposability of ADT. Crash barrier would be an adequate solution.

Louis Gatt

Jul 9th 2009, 11:32

May their souls rest in peace. However I cannot miss to point fingers once more at ADT. What about removing dangerous trees and other deadly obstacles like electricity poles etc? How about enforcing driving safety rules as laid down in the Law. More supervision is required on the road. What's the use of traffic regulations if everybody can break them! And mind you, there are much much more serious accidents than what we see reported in the press. The press can't cope with the numerous daily accidents which occur on our dangerous roads. Just 2 days ago a car just crossed a main road (Attard area) where a motorcyclist was seriously injured. The car driver just decided to cross the main road without thinking about other's safety. Nobody reported this serious accident and many many more go unnoticed. It is in the interest of all road users to make our roads safer! Careless driving should be severely punished. The Law must be observed at all times. It's the Authority's duty to see to this.

Kenneth Roberts

Jul 9th 2009, 11:31

My prayers go out to the families of these victims

With regards to making this road safer, i do not believe the solution is to remove the trees at all, personally i think this would be a very stupid act in this day and age when we are trying to regenerate greenery.

There are really 2 options

1) Remove the centre strip, this would give more room for over taking, how ever increases the risk of a head on collision....

2) Put up a crash barrier and reduce the roads to single lane, and encourage more people to use the other bypass to get to the airport.

Adrian Aquilina

Jul 9th 2009, 11:24

@Mr. Gatt

How do you know the car was overtaking??

I'm sure we have seen much more seroius accidents without loss of lives. Cars are faster but safer from what they were some years ago. Wearing seat belts save lives, sometimes I used not to wear until a doctor from the emergency department at St. Luke's told me it's incredible what they see and how much worse if not fatal drivers/ passenges might have ended up by not following this simple law.

People, for your own safety, buckle up please.

Daniel Vella

Jul 9th 2009, 11:24

Had there been crash barriers to protect cars from hitting the trees this tragedy would have been avoided as would have been avoided the ones before it. Any street that has trees adorning its sides should have crash barriers even though the road is straight as freak maneuvers are only subject to time before happening. Thats a fundamental difference between Maltese roads and roads all over Europe - they are designed proactively and maintained and upgraded by professionals who have road safety as their aim and priority rather than collecting taxes on the backs of road users. Readers who agree to my views are encouraged to join Touring Club Malta (www.touringclubmalta.org). Perhaps having a representation on MUSEC will get Maltese Mobility on top of the agendas.

Christopher Pollard

Jul 9th 2009, 11:17

Do we know if any of those involved in this accident were wearing seat belts at the time?

That piece of road is very dangerous especially as people tend to pull out of the petrol station without more than a glance.

Thanks once again to the emergency services for their work.

Joseph Attard

Jul 9th 2009, 11:11

A very sad accident. Many people died in that stretch of road with the vast majority of them always hitting trees. The car remained structurally intact which means that excessive speed was not the case. When will the authorities take action and remove those deadly trees? or else put up a barrier?

tony Gatt

Jul 9th 2009, 10:50

Another tragedy. I can never understand this manic desire to overtake at any cost in Malta.