The way towards improved road safety

There is both good and bad news about safety on our roads. Figures just released in Brussels show that the number of road fatalities dropped by six per cent (down from 41 to 36 per million) in the period 2001-2010. Still, when compared to the situation in other EU member states, Malta does not perform too well. In fact, this was the second lowest decrease in road deaths after Romania, where fatalities went down by three per cent.

Earlier this year, we learnt that, in 2010, the number of recorded accidents thankfully dropped by 7.7 per cent over 2009. However, in the same period there were 1,079 persons (614 males and 465 females) who were injured in traffic accidents. Of these, 15 cases (10 males and five females) proved fatal.

The bottom line is we need to continue to consider traffic safety, in all its dimensions, as a national concern.

The coming into force of new legislation aimed at countering irregular or irresponsible driving, hand in hand with police action, especially on occasions when the risk of, for instance, drink-driving is higher, surely contribute to improve the situation. Nonetheless, rules and clampdowns alone are not enough. Better education, for example, remains paramount. Perhaps the time has come for schools, especially those catering for teenagers, to introduce new well-planned driver education programmes. There are also other areas that deserve to be revisited according to experience. One of them is traffic calming measures, aimed at making roads and streets safer.

Definitions of traffic calming vary. Yet, they all share the aim of reducing vehicle speeds, improving safety and enhancing quality of life. Some include what are known as the three Es: traffic education, enforcement and engineering. Most definitions focus on engineering measures to change driver behaviour and some at making drivers slow down.

Two groups of traffic calming measures are those addressing volume and speed. Volume control measures are primarily used to deal with traffic problems by blocking certain movements, thereby diverting traffic to streets better able to handle it. Speeding problems can be addressed by changing vertical/horizontal alignment or narrowing the road.

There have been considerable improvements in traffic control initiatives. The fixed speed cameras concept seems to have helped a lot to keep over-speeding on major roads in check. Traffic lights too have their strong positive effect when installed at the right place and have the right timing.

The same could be said for roundabouts, aiming at regulating better uncontrolled intersections, particularly where right-of-way may be uncertain. They also help cut vehicle speeds and reduce collision points and severity when accidents occur.

There are also the benefits of central reservations, generally strips located in the middle of roads and used to separate lanes to provide a much appreciated visual cue of change in roadway environment, as well as speed bumps that are meant to make motorists slow down at local access streets.

All the measures that are in place in this regard help to keep speeds down and, therefore, avoid accidents and tragedies. Even so, the time is always ripe to study where adjustments and improvements are warranted in the hope of ensuring safer roads. Such a study could also help to establish goals, objectives, policies and criteria for an improved traffic calming programme that will provide a variety of potential alternatives to creatively solve problems.

Yet, whatever rules the traffic authorities may devise these would be useless unless there is effective enforcement. Discipline is a must.