That driving – or even walking – on our roads is a bit like playing a game of Russian roulette can hardly be contested. It has been a bad year for Maltese traffic, with some very bad accidents, including fatal ones, taking place regularly, especially in weekends. Something, somewhere, is not working.
Indiscipline would certainly rank high in the list of contributory factors. Immature or daring motorists is another. An apparent unwillingness to scrupulously enforce traffic regulations ranks high on the list. The kind of attitude adopted by both the Gozo Tourism Association and the Gozo Chamber of Commerce, which were critical of the fact that motorists were fined for illegal parking, certainly does not encourage neither wardens nor police officers to do their thankless and difficult job.
Traffic accidents can be caused even by a wrongly-parked car and nobody should even think of putting revenue before safety.
Enforcement needs to be pushed not discouraged and different ways of punishment must be devised for it is becoming increasingly evident that being out of pocket is no longer quite as effective a deterrant as we would like to think.
What we are witnessing everyday on our roads is the law of the jungle. Some sort of action is clearly needed. Everyone seems to agree but decisive action continues to prove elusive. The most the government is willing to do about it is to concede that there needs to be a review of traffic fines, particularly with regard to drink driving, to solve the surge in traffic accidents. But that is no solution at all.
Which is why the suggestion by the Malta Insurance Association to extend the points system currently in place to penalise reckless motorists – whereby a 12-point mark automatically leads to the withdrawal of the licence – beyond the first three years of driving makes a lot of sense.
New drivers require a higher level of monitoring for obvious reasons, however, the reality is that even experienced drivers can be dangerous.
No punishment could ever measure up to the possibility of having your driving licence withdrawn when it comes to devising effective deterrents. Losing one’s licence would indeed be very costly, especially if your livelihood depends on driving a vehicle. The unreliable public transport service also makes use of one’s car or motorbike for one’s daily commuting needs a must.
As much as addressing the public transport problems and solving them would be the ideal next step in terms of environmental and space concerns, we all know that, unless a revolution happens within the public transport sector, we are all likely to remain dependent on private vehicles as much as ever.
It does not take a genius to figure out that a penalising points system would make everyone think twice before reaching for that mobile phone while zigzagging between two lanes. Or to step on the accelerator pedal as soon as the traffic lights turn from amber to red, in the hope you gain an extra two minutes.
Or even to be quite so blasé about that double white line that you decide to cross just because you can’t be bothered to wait behind the slow-moving car in front. Or go for the last, umpteenth, drink before you go back home from a night out or a party.
Tough situations require tough measures. Do we have the will to do what it takes to make roads safer? Will politicians enact tough regulations and ensure those entrusted with the legal responsibility to enforce them do so without fear or favour?