As if the ever-increasing amount of vehicles on the roads is not enough, we still have very poor minor accident management and driving skills.

Very recently, I experienced a huge tailback on a major dual carriageway because four cars had bumped into each other and had totally blocked the road as their drivers nonchalantly waited for a warden or the police. People could have, say, missed a flight because of a few dented bumpers.

In organised north European countries, minor traffic accidents, where no one is injured, are not permitted to block roads – the involved drivers have to take car registration and insurance particulars (without blocking the road) and then move on and report to their respective insurance company.

Drivers blocking roads after minor accidents where no one is injured are prosecuted by the police for the road-blocking offence. Several years ago, Maltese drivers were issued by local insurance companies with copies of the accident reporting document used overseas for minor bumper to bumper accidents, which were supposed to be used without the need to call a warden or the police – what happened to all that?

Drivers complain of bad road surfaces and traffic jams. How about their driving skills? Most of them don’t seem to have ever learnt the difference between a cruising and an overtaking lane, which lane they should be in when approaching and tacking a roundabout, they’re too lazy or ignorant to use indicators, some don’t know they haven’t got any lights working at the back (did the car pass a VRT?), or that lights should be on at sunset and not when pitch dark, or that both hands should be on the steering wheel and not one dangling outside the door.

Interestingly, some of these cavalier habits also apply to police cars. The major fault lies with who’s heading the Transport Authority.

They should have organised short television clips at peak viewing times to highlight bad and correct driving habits. Instead, apart from collecting taxes, this authority seems to be in a deep slumber.