George Debono
The aftermath - what now?
The death of Clifford Micallef as a result of a horrific accident has caused outrage among all cyclists in Malta. Because cyclists are treated so shabbily on our roads there is a strong bond of loyalty and camaraderie between cyclists. This was eloquently expressed by the beautiful and moving farewell to Clifford from so many cyclists who accompanied his coffin to the cemetery.
It is a paradox that cycling is now a mainstream mode of transport in wealthy, technologically advanced, affluent countries such as Holland, Denmark and Germany. Sadly, this is not the case in Malta where "progress" has not included our travel habits. The public space we call "roads" has continued to be designed solely for motor vehicles to the exclusion of the needs of others such as children, pedestrians and cyclists. Successive administrations have pandered excessively to car owners while neglecting all other legitimate road users as cyclists, who are relegated to second-class road users. A narcissistic car cult is now deeply embedded in the Maltese psyche. The car has become the ultimate status symbol. Obtaining a car and driving it recklessly, which seems to be done with impunity, has become a rite of passage for many of our youngsters.
A radical change in our attitudes is needed. Road transport is a key determinant of health. Apart from excess mortality and shortened life spans due to traffic pollution, overdependence on motor transport has resulted in an increase in obesity which is itself the precursor of many diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes - all of which shorten life in their own right. Cycling or walking for half an hour a day can bring major health benefits; for instance, it halves the risk of developing heart disease. Besides the health benefits of physical exercise, less dependence on the car has the added bonus of resulting in less air pollution as car use diminishes - and roads also become safer and quieter.
The entire approach adopted by ADT in respect of promoting cycling has been insignificant, misguided and inept. Part III of The Today Public Policy Think Tank report Towards A Low Carbon Society: The Nation's Health, Energy Security And Fossil Fuels, deals with the question of promoting bicycle use in great detail. A crucial point raised in the report is this: because it is impossible to create a comprehensive network of cycle paths, tracks or lanes, it is inevitable that cyclists have to share the road with motor vehicles. Also, the value of cycle lanes is dubious and, if these are badly designed, they are highly dangerous. If cycling is to be encouraged the overriding aim should therefore be to induce a change in motorists' behaviour toward cyclists. The Think Tank report covers this approach in great detail and this should be compulsory reading by the ADT. This terrible accident is a setback for the promotion of cycling in Malta because it has strengthened the perception of cycling as a dangerous pursuit; making cycling safer therefore now becomes all the more urgent in order to reassure would-be cyclists.
Clifford Micallef deserves to be commemorated for all he has done for charitable causes - and which ultimately cost him his life. One possibility would be an annual commemorative "bicycle for all" Sunday (possibly incorporated into the annual car-free day). On this day all motor-driven vehicles must give absolute priority to bicycles and pedestrians so that families and children can safely ride bikes on our roads and discover the joys of cycling with no worries about safety. This would be a beautiful gesture and it would work wonders in changing attitudes and help making cycling safer.
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George Debono
Aug 4th 2009, 21:30
@J. Anastasi
@...............call a spade a spade……cycling banned………..very simple………..how can one even imagine to use our roads for cycling when not even our roads are fit for motorists!
RUBBISH!!!!!
As I have already said – with a mountain bike you can tackle anything – Potholes are a doddle compared to a steep rocky mountain side ('Ive done it too) .
@Who in his right frame of mind would venture out to cycle in our island?
I do and I a neither “ mad” nor “naïve” . I’m just not a softy and know how to cycle safely and this includes using pavements.
@.................ardent cyclists have no choice but to continue risking their lives when they venture out to enjoy their favourite sport on our Maltese roads.
NO!!!......NO!!!.........NO!!!–something needs to be done – it can. You are absolutely right……..“
"Let’s pray that Clifford Micallef did not die in vain!” ----- something HAS to be done. I have written to the ADT CEO demanding action based on my report "Towards a Low Carbon Society: The Nation’s Health, Energy Security and fossil fuels" Pleeeezzz read it. (available from gdmc@kemmunet.net.mt)
Correction : secnd fall from bike was a stupidly places hump on a downhill!
George Debono
Aug 4th 2009, 21:12
@ roads…not good…..for cyclists….……….as well as the way Maltese drivers drive their cars.
YUP Precisely……………“the way Maltese drivers drive”
Thanks, you’ve hit the nail on the head – it all boils down to bad driving driving yet again!
@in narrow roads……cars will be trying to overtake each other , making it dangerous for cyclists.
OH GEE ! CARS TRYING TO OVERTAKE EACH OTHER ON NARROW ROADS ????..........What next ???............AND “making it dangerous for cyclists”!!!! .
Aw come on !!! I cycle every day & kniw what I'm doing. EG if I go, for instance to Fgura, I cycle through the back streets of Sta Venera, Hamrun, Qormi and Tarxien. Pleasant ride – no hassle. The difficult bit is the unavoidable WIDE road bit (Aldo Moro) where I take refuge on the pavement (where there should be a separate cycle track).
@Wherever I have been abroad, the only roads where there were cycle-lanes were those wide enough to contain them ALONG WITH two car-lanes at least!
Yes, I know………….but the official view is that you cannot have cycle tracks/lanes/paths everywhere. Cycles have mostly to mingle with traffic. Ergo – motorists must be educated (= heavy fines etc) to respect cyclists.
G
George Debono
Aug 4th 2009, 20:57
@ Franco Farrugia
@...... should allow himself to calm down before trying to express himself in a logical manner.
WHY ? – and I am still angry !! All your arguments are are invalid - it is a matter of educating motorists.
@ It is EXACTLY because of what happened that I am saying what is realistic.
No!.......I think this tragedy should serve as a wake up call for ADT .
@ our roads are not good enough for cyclists to use, due to infrastructure as well as the way Maltese drivers drive their cars.
EH?????
With a modern mountain one can bomb along any Maltese road…potholes and all. The only 2 times I came off my mountain bike were a) a patch of oil (some guy changed his engine oil & let it run down the road) and a roads on a downhill. Our roads are impossible only for racing bikes with lightweight tyres.
@I would not want my loved ones to do that kind of thing.
Exactly ! But my grandson wants to ride his bike to school – do I stop him? Or do I continue lobbying for more sense and decency on our roads?
Continues ---
Bill Khan
Aug 4th 2009, 19:31
Thank you Geroge Debono for an excellent article.
This is indeed time for change of attitudes.
A.J. Anastasi
Aug 4th 2009, 19:01
Let’s call a spade a spade, please!
Cycling should be banned in Malta. Full Stop!
Why am I being so drastic? Very simple; how can one even imagine to use our roads for cycling when not even our roads are fit for motorists!
What happened to those road experts (Germans) who were supposed to give us a state-of-the-art road system, with Malta turning into a one-single lane carriage-ways?
Who in his right frame of mind would venture out to cycle in our island? One must be mad or naïve to this obvious situation.
Unfortunately, ardent cyclists have no choice but to continue risking their lives when they venture out to enjoy their favourite sport on our Maltese roads.
This is a BIG SHAME on the authorities concerned who have left this type of situation deteriorating for such a long time and it is about time to say STOP!
Let’s pray that Clifford Micallef did not die in vain!
AJA.
Franco Farrugia
Aug 4th 2009, 18:08
Mr George Debono should allow himself to calm down before trying to express himself in a logical manner.
The question of 'having the heart' of saying this and that is purely emotive on his part and I will let it pass. It is EXACTLY because of what happened that I am saying what is realistic, mainly that our roads are not good enough for cyclists to use, due to infrastructure as well as the way Maltese drivers drive their cars. Let him continue insisting that cyclists use the roads so as to create the necessary mentality - I would not want my loved ones to do that kind of thing. First, there must be the change in mentality, then have cyclists on the roads.
I do not want to mean that I am anti-cycling - FAR FROM IT. What I am suggesting is that we should be REALISTIC and realise that in narrow roads - contrary to what Mr Debono claims - cars will be trying to overtake each other, making it dangerous for cyclists.
Wherever I have been abroad, the only roads where there were cycle-lanes were those wide enough to contain them ALONG WITH two car-lanes at least!
albert leone ganado
Aug 4th 2009, 17:42
Overspeeding is one of the major causes of serious accidents on our roads which given their surface quality and lack of straightness are not designed for speed.. Speed cameras are not enough indeed they create their own dangers as people brake immediately before approaching the camera and then rapidly accelerate after passing it.
The first step to protect pedestrians, cyclists and careful drivers is a law requiring the installation of a speed delimiter on all road vehicles. I believe such delimiters do not cost a lot of money and limiting speed let us say to 60KM/hr would change the safety aspect of our roads.
Pierre Mangion
Aug 4th 2009, 16:52
mr g debono is quite correct in his replies to Mr, farrugia. i guess its mostly an issue of education - educating the drivers to drive in a respectful manner and respecting other using the same road, educating the bicyle drivers to ride in a more caustious manner and respecting the fact that their actions could also be harmful to other motorists and pedestrians, and also important is educating the pedestrian.
during my travels abroad i was impressived seeing motorists taking distance from bicyles and/or motor bikes whilst driving behind the latter and more impressive was the distance that the motorists take whilst over taking bicylices and/or bikes. irrespective whether the road was wide or narrow, the necessary precautions where always taken.
as for the potholes mentioned by Mr, Debono, unfortuntely these are not safe for anyone - a cyclist can get seriously injured if he/she encounter one of our craters, and most of times the life of a cyclist is endangered by the motorist trting to avoid such craters.
George Debono
Aug 4th 2009, 16:20
@Nathan Young
I cannot dispute much of what you say re the cycle path you refer to. I do know that some other cycle tracks are badly surfaced and/ or cyclists have to cross the road.
@ verbal abuse and threats from cyclists.
a)I suppose that it depends on how they are told they should be on the correct path.....Cyclists are often very frustrated from the disagreeable way they are treated by motorists.
c)I am regularly verbally abused in no uncertain manner while on my bike – so it’s quits.
@but...............Threats ?? Aw come on!!!
@ obeying the law.
This is a complex issue: Recently a discussion was published in the London time regarding cyclists and the law. It was admitted that under certain circumstances and road-junction/traffic configurations it is safer for a cyclist to CAREFULLY cross a light – (rather as pedestrians often do) onn the basis that a frequent cause of fatalities was vehicles turning left and hitting cyclists at traffic lights.
Ditto one-way streets Only this morning a car touched my elbow as it squeezed past at great speed on a OWS
Finally a bike which breaks the law is not a lethal weapon. A car is.
George Debono
Aug 4th 2009, 15:50
CONTINUED>>>>>>>>>>>>
@ but especially so on our Maltese roads, which are narrow, very bad (potholes, etc...) and without proper signage.
Wrong…………narrow roads are safer because cars do not travel fast on them. (this is often referred to as ‘natural traffic calming’ ) and pose less of a threat to cyclists. (I suppose potholes are also good new to bikers as these slow cars down!)
It is wide straight wide roads which are the menace because cars travel at great speed.
@”Bicycles on our streets are dangerous -
EH?
Bicycles dangerous ????
How can you have the heart to say this when an experienced cyclist like Clifford was killed by a CAR!!!! With rare exceptions EVERY ADULT KILLED IN A BICYCLE ACCIDENT IN KILLED BY A CAR>
@“they are far too vulnerable”
ABSOLUTELY
Bicycles are vulnerable to selfish motorists. This happens in Malta because we have the bully-boy mentality of “I’m bigger than you – get out of my way!” . It is time we stopped being so primitive and became civilized.
Please don’t misunderstand me – we have 2 cars in the family – BUT WE USE THEM RESPONSIBLY and with care when we see a cyclist.
G
George Debono
Aug 4th 2009, 15:35
3)@No, I don't think that cycling can be declared safe at any time………everywhere and always the risk of a cyclist having a very serious accident but especially so on our Maltese roads, which are narrow, very bad (potholes, etc...) and without proper signage.
ABSOLUTELY WRONG again - YOU SAY ".............if motorists cease to be “very bad-tempered…..don't care two hoots about whether that cyclist is more vulnerable on the streets….”.
This is precisely the point!!!
Motorists in Malta behave in an exemplary manner only in regard to wearing safety belts. Why?................because they are fined if they don’t do so. In exactly the same way motorists can be conditioned to drive carefully in the presence of cyclists if they know that they will face a fined of they do not do so and a harsh punishment if they injure a cyclist.
Also, as cyclists increase on the road so vehicle drivers become more careful.
@4)”……we have to be practical and call a spade a spade…….”
Precisely…………….the “spade” is this: IN contrast to civilized countries, Malta hasremained way behind.
In advanced countries motorists respect and admire cyclists an treat them decently – with the result that more people take to cycling.
Continues…………….
George Debono
Aug 4th 2009, 15:30
@ Franco Farrugia@......I do not agree with the conclusion of the writer.
But I know what I am talking about because I have studied the matter.
Every statement you make is both wrong and pessimistic:
It is out-dated attitudes like yours that are holding Malta back from becoming a healthy and safe place to live i (and travel on a low carbon low pollution healthy ).
1)@”We cannot try and imitate what people do abroad unless we are properly geared with the necessary infrastructure”
WHY EVERV NOT ???.......and…….
2)@”….. good and wide roads, safe and proper signage as well as continuous, and not just cosmetic cycle lanes here and there wherever we deem the road to have widened enough.
Infrastructure is NOT needed. What is needed is PRECISELY what YOU say namely; “safe as well as responsible and serious drivers”(your words remember ! ) - who respect bicycles as equal road users. This is the single most important component. As long as bicycles are treated as second class road users – then cyclists are endangered. I cycled to work in Switzerland over 10 years. There were no cycle paths on my route BUT the law was on cyclists’ side.
CONTINUES
Paul Cave
Aug 4th 2009, 10:57
I did not know Cliff for long or very well, but he was a huge help and an inspiration to me, as he was to many others, in my training for this year's lifecycle challenge. I feel privileged to have met such a man. The idea of a car free day is a superb one. There is an annual event of this kind in London and many other cities across the UK. http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/skyride/london
To quote an old Queen song "Get on your bikes and ride!!!!"
Nathan Young
Aug 4th 2009, 10:41
There is a good safe cycle path in Marsascala.It runs the length of Triq is-Salini from the Waterline restaurant to the old Jerma Palace Hotel.Apart from 7pm to 7am Mon. to Fri. and all weekend it is solely for cyclists.
The cyclists do not use it.They either use the pavements or the road,even cycling against the one-way system. Any attempt to tell them they should be on the correct path are met with verbal abuse and threats. They ride through red lights and think they are exempt from traffic laws.
I was until very recently a cyclist and found I was one of the very few who obeyed the law. I also drove 44 tonne trucks so I see it from both sides.
Franco Farrugia
Aug 4th 2009, 09:49
I do not agree with the conclusion of the writer. We cannot try and imitate what people do abroad unless we are properly geared with the necessary infrastructure. I spent years cycling to and from my university abroad, and even though the infrastructure was there - good and wide roads, safe and proper signage as well as responsible and serious drivers, as well as continuous, and not just cosmetic cycle lanes here and there wherever we deem the road to have widened enough. No, I don't think that cycling can be declared safe at any time: there is everywhere and always the risk of a cyclist having a very serious accident but especially so on our Maltese roads, which are narrow, very bad (potholes, etc...) and without proper signage. Not only that but it is also a fact that Maltese car-drivers are very bad-tempered and we don't care two hoots about whether that cyclist is more vulnerable on the streets than cars are. So, while I am all out for cyclists to take over the streets more, we have to be practical and call a spade a spade. Bicycles on our streets are dangerous - they are far too vulnerable.
Frans Sammut
Aug 4th 2009, 09:08
May I register my full support to George Debono's magnificent article.