The tragic death of motorcyclist Dieter Vink after he collided with an unpermitted skip, carelessly placed on a corner along the St Paul’s Bay bypass, serves as another grim reminder of Malta’s lax approach to road safety. This fatality was not just possibly preventable – it was sadly predictable in a country that tolerates shortcuts, neglect and apathy.
Tony Galea, president of a motorcycle advocacy group, summed up the outrage succinctly: “A chimpanzee would have known that dumping a skip in the middle of an arterial road around a blind corner would create a major risk to motorists.”
His statement underscores a painful truth: our roads remain dangerous because of a lack of basic education and basic respect and because the law-enforcement authorities are failing to clamp down on glaring dangers.
It is incredible to think how an obvious hazard on one of Malta’s main roads, used by thousands every day, was not removed before tragedy struck. Sadly, a culture of negligence, flippancy and short-sightedness, where cutting corners – whether to save money, time, or effort – is the norm in our country.
The hazards are multiple. Reckless behaviour like bumper-to-bumper driving and dangerous overtaking without any indication is emboldened by a lack of enforcement. Car drivers routinely ignore the fact that motorcyclists and cyclists are using the road, treating them as obstacles rather than fellow road users. Suffice it to note that motorcyclists account for nearly 40 per cent of all road traffic casualties.
Drivers of construction vehicles dominate the roads these days, zigzagging across roads and driving on fast lanes. Road diversions pop up without adequate warning signs, creating confusion and fuelling risk.
Compounding this issue is the government’s failure to establish the promised Transport Safety Investigative Commission, first proposed in December 2022. Unlike magisterial inquiries, which focus solely on assigning blame, this commission would analyse road safety shortcomings and recommend policy changes. Yet, despite its potential to save lives, we keep waiting.
For Fiona Laferla, whose 21-year-old son, Ben, died in a traffic accident in 2022, the delay represents a devastating lack of urgency.
Currently, road accidents in Malta are investigated through magisterial inquiries and the police. These are methods designed to assign civil or criminal liability, not to prevent future tragedies. Worse still, unless the media somewhat get hold of them, the findings often remain confidential, leaving the public and policymakers in the dark.
And this is troubling in a country if you consider the number of vehicles: Malta’s already-congested roads saw 831 additional vehicles licensed in the first quarter of 2024 alone, with an average of 62 newly licensed vehicles per day.
As the numbers grow, so does the risk.
It would be unfair not to acknowledge the gradual improvements in safety standards over the years – progress largely driven by media awareness campaigns and stricter fines. However, these gains must be viewed in context: they emerged from a baseline of appallingly low standards.
Enforcement officers must crack down on violations, from improper parking to reckless overtaking, and hold road and building contractors accountable for dangerous practices.
Skips on blind corners, unmarked road diversions and construction-related disruptions are not mere inconveniences – they are potential death traps.
Dedicated lanes, better signage and smartly designed roads are critical steps toward improving safety but, without rigorous education to instil adherence and strict enforcement to penalise violations, these measures risk becoming ineffective ornaments on an already-broken system.
Malta cannot afford to wait for the next tragedy to act. We need to address hazards proactively rather than reactively.