I would like to react to a report carried on this newspaper (February 27), which harshly criticises Transport Malta for the erection of a fence to discourage jay-walking across the four lanes of the Birkirkara bypass.

The fence has been objected to by University students, who are insisting they should be allowed to block traffic and cross the road dangerously rather than use the underpass provided. They claim that the underpass is not safe and, so, by analogy, they claim that sprinting across four lanes of traffic is safer. It is astounding how University students can be so short-sighted and how this can be carried in a national newspaper column. The statement by the Bicycle Advocacy Group, asking for a pedestrian crossing where an underpass exists, borders on the surreal.

What next? Maybe suggesting that sleeping policemen should be installed on the Birkirkara bypass or that a pelican crossing should be installed every few metres on Regional Road?

It seems that, although Malta boasts Europe’s safest drivers, unfortunately it does not enjoy the safest pedestrians.