I refer to Bill Andrews’ letter Are There Too Many Drivers Over 70? (October 11).
Everybody is entitled to an opinion and I respect Mr Andrews’ if that is what he thinks. May I suggest he takes another look at the cause of so many accidents on the roads of Malta and Gozo. Without trying to upset the whole nation of Malta, the people we have come to live alongside and very proud to do so, my opinion is that the driving standards on the islands are absolutely abysmal. There is reckless and dangerous driving; nobody cares for other road users, nobody understands the rules of the road, the attitude is “this is my bit of road and nobody else’s”. The main culprits of this terrible attitude are the members of the younger generation.
I will give two examples of bad driving which happened in the space of two hours and if I hadn’t used my driving experience to avoid these probable accidents there could have been fatalities.
On October 9, my wife, myself and two passengers were on our way from Xagħra to Mġarr to catch the ferry.
Approaching the roundabout between Xagħra and Xewkija I spotted a car coming at high speed from the direction of Nadur, presumably going to Victoria. As I entered the roundabout I decided to slow down as the car from my left was still proceeding at a high speed; within a second I had to brake hard as the car on my left went straight across the road markings approaching the roundabout. Had I not stopped, my wife in the passenger seat, let alone the passengers in the back, would have been seriously injured or, possibly, even killed. I sounded my horn to let the driver know (a young woman on a mobile phone) of my displeasure and anger but she was completely oblivious of her dangerous actions.
The second incident an hour later happened on the four-lane section of the Mellieħa bypass. I was behind a lorry going up the hill and safely pulled into the outside lane to overtake.
To my utter surprise, a minibus passed me on my inside and then suddenly pulled out in front of me into the outside lane. I had to jam my brakes to avoid a collision. If he had hit me I would have been pushed into the oncoming traffic and only God knows what would have happened. It would have been a multi-car pile-up and many injuries. Once again, the driver of the minibus was a young person.
I suggest to Mr Andrews that we throw our blinkers away and look at all the causes of bad driving, not just at the over 70s.
On a lighter note, I do not have to make an emergency stop to go to the loo as my prostate and bladder are A1. I do not park on pedestrian crossings as people need to use them.
I do not double- or treble-park because it upsets people. If I can’t find a place in a free car park I will go into a paying car park instead of polluting the atmosphere driving around looking for a space and, finally, I know the width of my car, which helps to avoid scraping the sides of other vehicles and reduces the causes of traffic jams.
The driving standards on the islands have to improve. When I reach over 70 and as long as I do not progress rapidly towards dementia, I will know when it is time to give up driving. Then, hopefully, I will not be the cause of an accident.
When I give up driving, I will, hopefully, still play tennis, go for long arduous walks because my doctor tells me it is good for me. Doing little or nothing is bad for one’s health Mr Andrews!