A crash on the Mġarr bypass that left one car sandwiched beneath the other has prompted cyclists to reiterate their calls for segregated cycling lanes, noting that a cyclist would have been crushed to death in the incident.
Thankfully, nobody was hurt in the collision, a police spokesperson said.
The Mġarr bypass was rebuilt earlier this year at considerable expense and significant delay, with authorities incorporating a narrow strip of a bicycle lane along one side of the road.
Times of Malta reported earlier this month how the cycling lane is effectively useless as it is too narrow for a bicycle to pass through at certain points.
Cycling advocacy group Rota had noted at the time that anything short of segregated cycling lanes would prove to be detrimental to both car and bicycle users.
Infrastructure Malta said plans to have segregated cycling lanes on the road were abandoned because they would have required the take-up of arable land.
Calls for segregated cycling lanes on key roads against picked up steam on Saturday, as images of two cars smashed into the slither of a cycling lane were shared across Facebook feeds.
“Share the road.. share the death. The infrastructure is failing everyone, whether you're driving, cycling or walking,” wrote Rota campaigner Paolo Manghi. “Rota's plea for safer roads for all remains relevant more than ever.”
Environmental campaigner and former MEP candidate Camilla Appelgren took a more tongue-in-cheek approach, writing “Good thing no cyclist was on the cycling lane...oh.. wait... It's not a proper cycling lane. That's why! Thank you minister for saving the cyclists' lives.”
Daniel Vella, president of Rota said: "This accident proves how unusable and unsafe this road is. Meetings with Infrastructure Malta have led to nothing and IM keeps spending millions of euros on such bad designs across Malta. One crash led to countless hours wasted for people as they are stuck inside the carriageway with nowhere to go."
Vella said that thankfully, no one was in the bicycle lane at the point as they would have been grievously injured or killed.
"We hope authorities take this as a warning sign to start taking sustainable mobility seriously, take on our recommendations and fix this road as soon as possible. Road infrastructure keeps failing us all, whether we’re driving, cycling or walking. People shouldn’t have to die before something is done, this accident proves how easy it is for this to happen."
Saturday’s collision forced authorities to close the single-lane thorougfare to Mġarr-bound traffic for a period of time. Unverified reports claimed that an ambulance dispatched to the scene as a precaution had to use the opposing lane to reach the scene.
The bypass was rebuilt at a cost of €6 million, with the minister responsible at the time, Ian Borg, saying that the project was intended to reduce the risk of serious collisions along it.