Six traffic fatalities in second quarter

G G Debono

Jan 19th, 16:09

It is really quaint how people keep on blaming blame raod conditions for what is plainly the anarchic conditions and appalling driving on our roads. Which, it its turn, is due to a total lack of enforcement.

So all these silly comments like “ the lack of road markings and by bringing them up to standard in line with European Law…………layout at all …….. investment in road maintainance. ……..if we had better roads and tarmac that does actually offer grip, -- -“” etc etc are simply missing the real issue of lousy driving. .

As the saying goes “a bad carftsman blames hios tools - - And so we blame the roads.

As one commentator who also drives abroad, put it ----- it is the "Me First" mentality . There is also the mentality that people will drive cars as fast as they go regardless of the road conditions. If people were to drive that way in any European town they’d immedialtely have the full weoght of the law upon them….. besides people simply drive with manners in civilsed countries.

In matters of driving habits Malta is as bad as any third world country.

As the commentator said, “It's chalk and cheese as regards road manners” when comparing Malta and other civilized countries.

But, most important of all, we have NO excuse for so many accidents. We don’t have to drive long distances. AND Malta has permanently favourable driving conditions. There are no dark black winter days with sustained sub-zero temperatures as in northern countries. Maltese drivers never have to contend with fog, frost, deadly black ice or invisible frozen stretches of road.

Anybody who tries to excuse our high accident rate on the bad state of roads doesn’t know what he is talking about. This is being stuffy and insular. This excuse is absolutely invalid.

Using our road is nasty and vicious only if you ride a bike – and this is because of lousy drivers. Otherwise, compared to the hazardous driving conditions on many European roads in winter, driving a car in Malta is simply a piece of cake.

James Wightman

Jul 22nd 2011, 07:18

Hmmm two vehicle related fatalities a month!

The problem with Maltese RTA statistics is they show when, where, what time of day, what vehicle, age, sex of driver/victim yet fail to show how or why accidents happen.

What gets measured gets managed as the saying goes. Whats more significant is were they head on, due to over taking, loss of control due to road surface degradation or a diesel spill etc... (the is no such thing as loss of control without an underlying reason) data that typifies the root cause of the accident, (the how and why) then the data and variables collected take on a relevance and not before.

At the moment they are just meaningless number from which someone at TM can only make arbitary decisions neither can the public make safe choices. Most accidents happen in B'Kara but why and where? It may be due to a confounding factor (or some other) such as a conglomeration of major arterial routes. You get the idea. But 2 a month is too much! Should we ban cars? Discus.

Mr phil sam

Jul 21st 2011, 16:22

Maybe the courts, could help, with those found guilty of any, traffic offence causing death or serious injury a jail term, instead of suspended sentences. These cases should be brought before the courts immediately !, not years after.

James J. Patton

Jul 21st 2011, 16:16

Every fatality on the roads is one death to many and one of the most significant differences the Maltese Authorities could make to these statistics is by paying more attention to and doing something constructive about the lack of road markings and by bringing them up to standard in line with European Law.

Particular attention must be given to the layout at all roundabouts on the island which can only be described as shambolic, they must be a major contributor to the statistics in this article which must be seen as an embarrassment and an absolute disgrace for a Country the size of Malta.

Mr Daniel Vella

Jul 21st 2011, 16:08

These numbers can all go down if government did its part and return at least part of the taxes collected from licences and registration taxes as an investment in road maintainance. Apart from that, many accidents happen because there are missing or faint road markings - a good example of this is Triq Il-Mithna in Qormi (near HSBC), before this road got some markings, it was a big task to negotiate your way through it, after the road marking therapy despite the surface still a disgrace, it is much easier and orderly to navigate through it. If all roads are marked and mended, the expenditure would repay itself shortly thought the savings on casualty treatments out of public funds apart from rendering our entire country more welcoming for tourists.

James Aquilina

Jul 21st 2011, 14:36

And if we had better roads and tarmac that does actually offer grip, accidents will be half of what they are today......