Badly designed bicycle lanes are more dangerous than none at all, keen cyclist George Debono has warned.

Many lanes are narrow, separated from the road by a mere painted line that stops abruptly, leaving cyclists with no choice but to veer onto the road.

Dr Debono, a retired clinical researcher, said many lanes around the island were not maintained, full of shards of glass and other rubble.

He feels just improving cycling lanes is only part of the solution to a problem that ended in tragedy last week when cyclist Cliff Micallef died after being run over by a car on the coast road. Anthony Taliana, a 21-year-old from Ħamrun, has since been charged in court with his manslaughter.

Dr Debono said there was an urgent need for a change in mentality among motorists, who considered themselves kings of the road and disrespected cyclists and the need for safety.

"You have an incident almost every time you go out on the road. Wherever you are, you are threatened by cars. In the past weeks I was almost killed on two occasions," he said.

On one of these occasions, Dr Debono was nearly hit by a car that whizzed past while he going round a roundabout in Floriana, and the second time he came close to being crushed against a wall by a private coach while riding along Naxxar Road.

"There is a lack of respect and understanding," he said.

However, he added the majority of motorists were decent drivers, and it was some 20 per cent who were responsible for the hazards cyclists regularly faced, with the main culprits being buses, taxis and heavy vehicles.

Dr Debono believes tough legislation to protect cyclists should be in place and motorists who do not abide by the rules should be slapped with hefty fines.

Among his proposed measures is that motorists should leave at least one metre of space when overtaking a cyclist. He said other countries where he had lived, including Switzerland, France, Denmark and the UK, had regulations that safeguard cyclists' safety. In Denmark, motorists drive in great fear of hitting a cyclist.

"We cannot have the whole of Malta's road network covered by cycling lanes, which means cyclists have to mingle with traffic. Therefore, motorists' attitude must change," he said, adding he worried whenever his 15-year-old grandson went cycling.

He insisted people who drew up the regulations should have a knowledge of cycling, including those who designed bicycle lanes.

"It is not enough to have a pail of paint and use it to create lanes," he said.

It was not just motorists' attitude that could do with some improvement. Last year, Dr Debono had his details taken by a policeman when he tried to rest his bicycle against one of the cannons in front of Castille.

He had an appointment with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi to present him with a report on pollution and energy conservation in Malta, drawn up by The Today Public Policy Institute. The report said bicycles were still the underclass of the roads and many drivers harboured an antagonistic attitude towards them.

"Cycling is justifiably perceived as unsafe because motorists are not conditioned to respect cyclists who have to share the road with them. Cyclists feel unprotected on the road because, owing to the lax attitude of law enforcers and courts, motorists feel immune from serious repercussions if they are responsible for injuring a cyclist," the report said.

Ultimately, cycling has health benefits. At 73, Dr Debono said he felt as if he was still in his 20s and attributed a lot of his good health to his regular cycling. Moreover, bicycles do not emit fumes, in turn reducing pollution.