The traffic police are once again worried about their health and safety after one of their own broke his leg in an accident last week.

Constable Emanuel Pisani was driving along It-Telgħa t'Alla w Ommu, limits of Naxxar, when the motorcycle he was riding skidded on the wet tarmac, sources said. He knocked his shin against the curb, breaking it in three places.

The traffic police are not provided with any effective protective clothing and have been asking for it for the past years. One of them said that had they been issued with the proper trousers, PC Pisani would not have been hurt so badly. "Riding trousers have shin guards in an inside pocket and had he been wearing them, he would probably not have broken his leg," he said.

Some trousers also contain the bulletproof material, kevlar.

The same issue was raised earlier this year when Sergeant Malcolm Mifsud also skidded on wet tarmac, slammed into a lamp post and was thrown off his motorcycle in Great Siege Street, Floriana.

Similarly, his colleagues had attributed his life-threatening injuries to the fact that he was not wearing any protective clothing.

The force had said it was actively deciding among several uniform samples it had received but the traffic police are still wearing the same clothes, similar to that worn by the rest of the force, except for gloves and boots that are also used by the mounted police.

When contacted again, the force this time said information on the purchase of the equipment was not in the public interest.

kbugeja@timesofmalta.com