I was waiting for a shop to open in one of the more narrow streets in St Julian’s when I was joined on the pavement by a an elderly lady who just narrowly missed the unwanted attentions of a car.

Nothing unusual in this except that as we looked down into the said vehicle going past, the driver was totally oblivious, head down, texting busily away.

This and making calls on mobiles while driving, is unfortunately not uncommon and can have very serious consequences. A friend was recently in a car accident where the driver was reported to have been using a mobile at the time. This is something which UK and American researchers have shown is 10 times more dangerous than drunk driving – so unfortunately it does happen.

It is high time that the authorities, from the simple beat policeman up to the highest level of the judiciary, started taking a zero tolerance approach to distracted driving, as well as drunk and fatigued drivers. Possibly doubling any penalties incurred in court, in the same way that crimes against minors are.

It’s time we got tough on these three areas and the damage that they do to pedestrians, cyclists and indeed other innocent motorists and motorcyclists.