ADPD on Saturday questioned whether the time had come for the country to consider the introduction of 'homicide by a vehicle' law to stop the trail of destruction on the roads.

Addressing a news conference on Saturday at the site of serious accidents that occurred in recent months in Attard, party PRO Brian Decelis said people who speed are aware of the danger they are posing as well as of the devastating effects of an accident.

"Dangerous driving should be severely punished," he insisted.

He said that the roads that ministers were so proud of have become racing tracks, with speeds on the Central Link reaching 157 kilometres per hour.

"We will say it loud and clear: the sense of carelessness also emanates from the lack of enforcement. Some just assume that they will not be penalised if they drive carelessly.

ADPD spokepersons addressing a news conference. Photo: ADPDADPD spokepersons addressing a news conference. Photo: ADPD

"Anyone who exceeds certain speeds should have their driving licence permanently revoked. These people should never drive. They are a danger to others; they are turning a car into a deadly weapon," he said.

Decelis said that as the ADPD had predicted, wide roads lead to more speed, more deaths, and also more traffic and pollution. The projects being carried out, he said, are an abuse of European Union funds.

"These EU-funded roads actually go counter to the EU's own goals regarding the climate and sustainable transport. At the same time with the massive lack of foresight buses are getting stuck in traffic and those who choose clean means of transport - such as bicycles, pedelecs and scooters - are ending up among speeding cars."

Secretary General Ralph Cassar said that congestion and reckless driving are the result of an outdated mentality in mobility policy and the lack of space and priority on the roads for public transport and for clean and sustainable means of transport.

"Successive governments have promised voters the indiscriminate use of the car, random parking everywhere and wherever, and pavements given over for the exclusive use of businesses, which block access to people with the blessing of the authorities.

"Moreover, the government continues to ignore its own plans, spending hundreds of thousands of eEuros in consultancies but then ignoring the resulting reports. This is a waste of money, a waste of European funds and a waste of time."

He noted that in its strategy on commuting by bicycle and pedelecs, the government has established a target of doubling the number of bicycle trips by 2050.

This was an extremely low target that showed how uncommitted the government was towards a modal shift.

The government, Cassar said, should start by implementing its own master plan which calls for low-emission zones in town centres and segregated busways so that public transport becomes more efficient in the most populated areas, among other things.

Segregated bus lanes on a larger scale could be developed into a Bus Rapid Transit system - with buses having absolute priority over other traffic and cars should be kept out of town and village centres, with regional transport services and safe roads for alternative transport such as bicycles and pedelecs.

It was also high time that all main routes, the so-called bypasses, had a segregated bicycle lane.

"If car lanes are narrowed, as apparently is being done in the Mrieħel bypass, the extra space should be given over to alternative transport such as bicycles, pedelecs and scooters and not an additional lane for more cars. That's the only way we can have roads which are people-friendly instead of roads encouraging more pollution and speed that kills," Cassar said.

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