In his letter Make Walking Safe (May 13), Alfred Farrugia does not distinguish between urban streets and main roads. He is kind enough to concede what everybody knows, namely, that “pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users and children even more so” but then goes on to glibly insist on shifting responsibility for safety squarely back on the pedestrian.
Pedestrians, we are told patronisingly, should “take better care of themselves... by making good use of pedestrian crossings” with the customary selfish addendum that this usually means “only having to walk a few extra metres” when it can often be nearly a kilometre, which is not funny for people loaded with shopping or mothers pushing a pram.
Such attitudes are misguided and antiquated. They have robbed our streets of their vibrancy and destroyed the quality of urban life and are totally out of touch with today’s urban realities.
That somebody can talk like this on behalf of the Malta Automobile Club shows the extent to which Malta remains stuck in a time warp. Conditions remain those of the old horse-drawn traffic days of Paris where the rule was that you are “either quick or you are dead”.
Attitudes have altered in progressive countries with enforcement of car restraint measures in most European towns and cities and priority given to pedestrians and cyclists.
The modern concept is to tame traffic and increase motorists’ consideration for other road users (something Malta seriously lacks) through negotiation of shared areas so that urban streets become pedestrian-, age- and child-friendly. This is being achieved by redesigning streets so that they become social places again, not just traffic spaces, with the introduction of modern concepts such as home zones, shared spaces with integrated use of streets by all so that pedestrians do not need to protect themselves against cars.
These measures are further enhanced by the introduction of urban 30km/h speed limits and 20km/h limits near schools and shopping areas. These measures improved residents’ quality of life, road safety improved and, paradoxically, traffic flow generally improved too. Streets became healthier and more attractive to walk in - or use a bicycle. Real estate prices also increased in such areas.
To quote Etienne Krug, director of violence and injury at the WHO: “... more than 5,000 pedestrians are killed on the world’s roads each day. This is because their needs have been neglected for decades, often in favour of motorised transport”.
This is precisely the problem we face in Malta after decades of misguided road planning with roads designed for motor vehicles without consideration for other road users.