Driver seriously injured in San Gwann

g.c.Forte

Dec 22nd 2009, 10:13

@ Claude Sammut @ ...........I have been driving all kind of vehicles for these last 44 years. My point is that today is not like it use to be,today,with all these vehicles, it is more difficult to drive, especially when your mind is of 18 years. 100 % of accidents that happen involving children between 18 - 25 always happens A. Drink and drive B. Lack of experience C. Ksuhat . I can understand that today a car is a need, but that does not mean that the car is not a deadly weapon. It is like having a knife, it is there to eat with it.........but if you use it wrongly...........you can hurt yourself or somebody else. At the age of 25,you will be mature enough not to make stupid mistakes that hurt yourself or others.

Joseph E Briffa

Dec 21st 2009, 20:15

@Paul Caruana..I agree with you, I also have noticed that traffic has lately become more chaotic; in fact I have made a resolution to slow down to 40 kph in residential areas and to keep to within 60-70 kph 'on the highways' Along with some dare-devil taxi drivers rushing at 90kph and over on their way to and from the airport, I have made it my business to keep clear of these SUVs and pick-up trucks that feel like kings on the road. A lot of them overtake round bends, dash at 70kph even in residentail areas, come out of side streets without stopping, fail to give way where they should and they do all sorts of crazy antics endangering other drivers' lives as well as those of pedestrians crossing on zebra crossings. They feel secure in their big and powerful vehicles and they don't seem to give a damn about others. The only thing that can save us is the presence of traffic policemen patrolling the roads day and night, like we used to have in days gone by Hefty fines running into hundreds of euros reduction of points and suspension of licences for long periods for these persons.

Paul Barrett

Dec 21st 2009, 15:40

When I was a child I learned to ride a push bike, when you fall off, you can hurt yourself so you learn to ride carefully. At 17 I moved to a small motor bike and after three years, moved to larger motor bikes. You learn in steps that you are not invincible and that mistakes hurt. I did not start to drive a car full time until I was 25, mainly because of cost and also because I needed to due to family.
I believe that this is a valuable and progressive education not only in learning about the road rules but also giving you an appreciation of other road users and classes of vehicles on the road.
For anyone, irrespective of age, to move straight into driving a car (often a very powerful car) with little or no prior road experience other than the basic learning lessons and the driving test, enhances the "devil may care" bullish attitude seen in many drivers.

Claude Sammut

Dec 21st 2009, 15:11

@ g.c.Forte - Take the bull by it's horns! Raising the age to have a driving licence to 25 is out of the question, it's like cutting off your head when you have a headache! It's true that most of the bad accidents involve drivers under 25, a situation a problem which definitely needs to be solved but have you ever considered the consequences of implying such a change? Or do most people do as the Maltese saying "u jaraw sal-ponta ta mnehirhom"?
Have you ever investigated why these drivers crash? Maybe the driver tried to avoid a pedestrian carelessly crossing the road, or to avoid some old guy who kept on going out of the side street without stopping despite there being a stop sign? Could it be also that it happened because he tried to avoid a self centred driver that decide to change lanes without even considering to indicate before manoeuvring. I'm not saying that this is the case for the particular accident but I'm fed up of seeing comments against young drivers on each and every accident and NO ONE 'smells under his armpits'!

Kieron O'connor

Dec 21st 2009, 14:10

I have just returned from a short break in Malta.
In the short period I was there, 6 people were killed in road traffic related incidents. 6 people! just before christmas! Its criminal, and one on a pedestrian crossing!
As usual I hired a rental car, also known as "idiot magnets", without fail any closet idiot will be drawn to it by seeing the rental reg. Pulling out infront of the rental car so the driver has to take action to avoid collision and trying to touch the rear bumper of the rental car are two of the most common practices.
In the past week I have seen all ages breaking the law and taking chances with my life and their own life.
The coast road and any other place their is sollid white lines, casually overtaking on bends and straights so traffic on both sides have to take avoiding action.
I was passed on a solid white line in st pauls bay in traffic, for what? At the top of Melieha he was still the car infront of me, putting both our lifes at risk for the sake of 2 seconds.
A culture change is needed.

adrian aquilina

Dec 21st 2009, 13:12

i agree with paul and like to add where are the traffic police??? why do wardens do nothing about serious driving offences?? stand at the back of bay street most nights and all fri,sat nights and you will see cars going the wrong way down the one way street non stop..go to corner store in sweiqi and see cars parked everywhere inc double yellow lines..the government need to educate as they do in other countries with continues information films,high fines and taking away of licences and strict enforcement..i see red minibuses with kids in speeding around corners,turning where it says no turn etc..the education must also inc safe sex,safe drinking,drink driving etc

A. Agius

Dec 21st 2009, 12:26

Yet, when I was 19 driving and minding my own business, and an SUV driven by a 40-year old at 100km/hr+ slammed into my side, nearly killing me and wrecking my car beyond recognition .. nobody seemed to make a big fuss about it.

Should give more consideration to the idiots driving at 20km/hr on the fast lane at 8:00am in the morning with 50 cars dragging behind them. Now that's something nobody mentions.

Keith Goodlip

Dec 21st 2009, 12:03

@G.C.Forte

I disagree. A car is tool which nowadays is a must for everyone above 18. Drinking however is not a necessity and can be raised to 21. Enforcing the law would also help too. Tighter controls on the Alcohol vendors and spot checks for breathalyser tests.
Is the current license point system working? Once again it all boils down to enforcement.

Paul Caruana

Dec 21st 2009, 11:16

The situation is getting progressively worse, despite the best efforts over the last few years,by the government to improve the driving test. It is clear that the problem is not a lack of education on the proper, safe way to drive a car by drivers (especially younger ones), but a "couldn't give a damn " attitude by more and more drivers on our congested roads.

Am I the only one out there on the roads who is encountering more and more reckless drivers as the years go by - and please note that I am not referring only to young drivers - what about commercial vehicles (which are supposed to be limited to a max speed of 60km/hr !!!), taxis, minibuses and the like?

We need more enforcment to stop this criminal behaviour on our roads, be it by wardens, police, speed/CCTV cameras, sealed electronic measuring devices on cars, or any combination of the above. At this stage, words alone are completely useless.

Joseph Sciberras

Dec 21st 2009, 11:11

Young drivers are too inexperienced to cope with controlling a car when difficulties arise. This sometimes happens because of the bad quality of the surface of many of our roads. When it rains it is as if they are covered in soap.

Robert Azzopardi

Dec 21st 2009, 11:06

Wish the man a quick and full recovery.
How about changing the driving culture altogether, how about have appropriate driving lessons and testing, how about having proper roads to drive on?
@g.c.Forte
neither an 18 year old nor a 25 year old is a child but a man/woman, perhaps you belong to the patriachal society which surely doesnt help young people by lecturing! raising the driving license age would make sense only in the context that Malta has too many cars on the road and too many drivers other than that stop treating young Maltese as if they were children, they are not! Treat them like adults and foster a future mature society, treat them like kids and they will remain immature and spoilt!

g.c.Forte

Dec 21st 2009, 10:47

Another 20 years BOY seriously injured.......................Considering that lots of the accidents are happening to children age between 18 to 25, I think that it is about time to raise the age to have a driving license up to 25 years. I keep on saying that a car is a weapon, and at the age of 18 is to young to be responsible to carry a deadly weapon.

Brian Maloret

Dec 21st 2009, 10:30

This seems to becoming a daily occurence where a young person gets seriously injured after crashing their vehicle in the early hours of the morning. When are the authorities going to take heed of this by strengthening or indeed changing road traffic legislation?

PM Camilleri

Dec 21st 2009, 10:20

And there will be more to come. What worries me is that there could be innocent victims as what happened recently at the St Pauls Bay bypass roundabout.