I refer to the letter by George Debono, ‘Deluding ourselves over road safety’ (The Sunday Times of Malta, December 25, 2016), which is in reply to my letter published on December 18, 2016.
Dr Debono insists on challenging a 2016 European Commission survey, which, once again, confirms that Malta enjoys some of the best European statistics for road safety.
Dr Debono supports a recently published comparison between Maltese national statistics on road safety and those from selected European towns and cities, seemingly selected on the basis of the author of a previous letter, John Vassallo, having lived there at some time.
Such a comparison is highly subject to bias, and cannot replace a scientific survey by the European Commission. In any case, this comparison found that Maltese statistics compared very favourably with those from northern European cities, which again supports the European Commission survey findings.
However, the two authors then continue to argue that the worsening picture for 2016, which has recently been linked directly to an increase in motorbike accidents, is rather due to lax speed restrictions. In fact, Malta already has some of the lowest national speed limits in the world.
Worldwide, only Vietnam imposes a similar national 80kph speed limit on dual carriageways. Furthermore, our speed limits have not increased this year. The crucial difference between excessive speed and inappropriate speed is also ignored by both authors. Thus, this argument has many fatal flaws, which I explained in detail in my letter of December 18.
Dr Debono is effectively rationalising his ingrained abhorrence for motor vehicles. He will quote evidence, no matter the quality, which supports his views, while ignoring high-quality evidence which confutes his opinions. For example, he has failed to tell us that the serious injury rate for cyclists, moped riders and motorcyclists has been increasing in the Netherlands year by year, while that for car occupants has been falling steadily. His objection to enforcing helmet use by cyclists, part of Maltese law, is another example.
May I suggest that his New Year resolutions include one to properly research his subject before putting pen to paper, to consider all evidence, and to limit himself to fact rather than colouring his letters with inappropriate adjectives?