• Hugh Arnett in his article ‘Hydrogen engine’ (The Sunday Times Motoring, May 22, 2011) cited cycling as being safe. While I would agree that cycling is safer than driving a car when judged against all-cause mortality rates; that there have only been two cycling deaths in 20 years and cycling can actually increase longevity, I have to disagree on a few points.

You do not actually have to be young to cycle and while cycling is perceived as dangerous most parents are too scared to allow their offspring to learn how to ride a bike. Strangely, obesity is perceived as less dangerous, yet Malta tops the list of this health time bomb and we will all pay dearly for it in years to come. However, most bike-car accidents worldwide (and Malta is no exception) are caused by car drivers, not the other way round. This is why cycling would appear to be safe only because cyclists tend to miss car drivers.

Rather than menacing cyclists and driving them off the road, a rare but not a mythical occurrence as Mr Arnett will have us believe, car drivers do tend to be uncaring towards bicycles. Often they fail to notice bikes, or fail to use good judgment of speed and distance when meeting and especially passing cyclists.

Unfortunately there is very little empirical data for Malta on near-miss incidents or causes of injuries to cyclists, but anecdotal accounts paint a different picture.

Despite the Highway Code or more properly LN129/2004, scary moments and near-misses do occur, and far too regularly to be taken lightly. Before we get sidetracked into the ‘couldn’t see you’ argument, high visibility and bright colours are only good if you are actually looking for them.

I would be more than happy to assist Mr Arnett in getting onto a bike and trying to commute to and from his workplace, so he can experience it for himself.

True, Mr Arnett seemed to be taking offence at groups of cyclists not tucked into the left of the carriageway, but he does not state whether they are children or club riders. In the case of the latter group, riding in the peloton is a skill that has to be honed or should we expect the Tour de France to proceed in single file or any F1 Grand Prix for that matter.

In the case of the former, are not laissez-faire road skills also to blame? So perhaps we need more people like Mr Arnett to show the way – on the road not on paper.

Unfortunately we are getting to the point in Malta that car journeys often take longer than expected. It’s almost the norm to commute from traffic jam to traffic jam, and not uncommon for bicycle-savvy commuters to actually beat cars in heavy traffic or arrive just a few minutes later. Bikes on the road are not a menace. They are your ticket to an open parking space and less traffic.

Many years ago in the UK a motorcycling magazine ran a commuter test. A Ford Escort squared off against the then ubiquitous 50cc Yamaha FS1E or ‘fizzie’ as it was lovingly called. Despite the fast dual carriageways the ‘fizzie’ won.

Maybe it’s time for a grand Maltese commuter test, with the motoring team pitting a big SUV, a super-mini, a scooter, a bicycle and a bus against each other to see what works out best?