I wonder whether the increased rate of road fatalities, as recently reported, has anything to do with the appalling state of many of our roads.

Here on Malta we have far too many ‘tyre shredding’ holes, ‘wheel wobbler’ ridges (often unlevel manhole covers) and generally poor surfaces that those who drive regularly here fear and have to keep a constant lookout for.

Even where roads have been resurfaced, the work rarely ensures true even surfaces where manholes are concerned and when major roads, such as the Coast Road, are ‘improved’, proper planning seems absent as roundabouts etc often appear in odd, even dangerous, locations and are regularly omitted where most needed.