Talking Point - October 8, 2009

The recent announcement that a culture of cycling and walking was to be promoted by a department within the Transport Authority shortly after a tragic accident in which a cyclist lost his life has resulted in a lively debate on cycling in the correspondence columns of this newspaper. Such debate is healthy, even when it has occasionally tended towards confrontation between motorists and cyclists. Confrontation is an inevitable and predictable phase in the transition from a motor traffic-dominated situation to another where cyclists share the road with motorists in harmony, as is the case in many European countries but especially so in Denmark and Holland.

A petition now signed by over 2,000 petitioners sparked further controversy because it included the specific recommendation that motorists should be made generally legally responsible for collisions with cyclists unless it can be proved that the cyclist deliberately caused the crash and, further, that a tough stance against motorists who endanger cyclists should be adopted. This is nothing new. It is precisely the system now in force in Germany, Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg. Denmark and some other countries also automatically give preference to the cyclist in cases of accident.

Now it appears as if the UK, until recently a relatively bicycle-unfriendly country, might follow. Government advisers have re-commended a legal revision that will make the most powerful vehicle involved in a collision automatically liable for insurance and compensation purposes. Policy-makers believe that only such a radical step will encourage greater take-up of environmentally-friendly transport modes and get people on to bicycles or to walk more by protecting those most exposed to injury in an accident. In addition to shifting the legal onus on the driver in control of the larger vehicle, other recommendations include 20mph (30kph) speed limits in suburban and residential areas, the teaching of cycling to all schoolchildren and obligatory cycling provision in major planning applications.

The EU Green Paper, Towards A New Culture For Urban Mobility (September 25, 2007), declares that “every EU citizen should be able to live and move in urban areas with safety and security. Whether walking, cycling or driving a car, one should be able to do so at minimum personal risk”.

The proposed radical new law makes sense by affording protection to the vulnerable road user. It applies to all vehicles and not specifically to bicycles. Therefore, while the law would be on the side of vulnerable cyclists if hit by a car, cyclists would equally be presumed guilty if they knock down a pedestrian.

The new law will also encourage use of small, less polluting vehicles by affording them greater protection and it will discourage bullying from large vehicles on the road as is often the case in Malta. People might argue that this law will encourage high-risk behaviour from cyclists but cyclists are too vulnerable to injury to put life or limb on the line just because they are immune from guilt if hit. Assuming that the law will also have an effect on insurance rates on bigger cars, another bonus will be a trend toward smaller car usage which, in its turn, will further decrease our catastrophic street pollution.

Malta has remained stuck in a time warp for over 60 years and continues to build roads only for cars, ignoring the fact that the road is a public space which has other social functions besides accommodating cars. This aspect and many recommendations for promoting bicycle use are covered in detail in Towards A Low Carbon Society: The Nation’s Health, Energy Security And Fossil Fuels, published by the Today Public Policy Institute. The lead author of this report amply demonstrated that the bicycle is a valid means of transport, having cycled to Valletta, even at the height of summer, to appear fully suited and wearing a tie, to attend presentations of think tank reports to our President and Prime Minister. Further proof is the substantial number of cyclists who commute to work by bicycle, even in current adverse conditions.

Typically for Malta, another European car-free day has just gone by absolutely unnoticed. While advanced countries seek ways of preventing their towns and cities from getting clogged with traffic and polluted by getting people out of cars, Malta continues to foster unhealthy car-dependence, which has resulted in a disagreeable narcissistic car culture and severe pollution at street level.

Malta must move with the times. There is a lot of catching up to be done, not only in respect of encouraging a healthy lifestyle from use of such non-polluting low-carbon transport modes as the bicycle, where feasible or for short trips, but also in regard to renewable energy.