The law lets down cyclists and motorists

Imagine the scene: you are riding your bicycle to work and a motorist in a hurry goes to overtake. They misjudge the gap between you and oncoming traffic. The car nudges your bike and sends you tumbling to the ground.

The driver stops, helps you to your feet and checks you have not sustained any major injuries. In the bleakest scenario, an ambulance needs to be called and the bike is a write-off.

The motorist is mortified and apologetic. The accident was a shock but, all things considered, no big deal. A small scratch on their car, perhaps. And they might get to work a little later than usual.

But, for you, this may be the start to a long and traumatising saga as you recover from injuries, take time off work and confront the prospect of a permanent fear of riding bicycles. Not to speak of your beloved bike. If it can be repaired, it may cost a fortune to do so.

To make all this worse, the Maltese justice system is stacked against you. And it is an outlier in the European Union in this respect.

At the heart of this predicament is the absence in Malta of a provision in law known as “presumed liability”.

The concept is applied variously in different countries but, speaking in broad and simple terms, it states that when a collision occurs between a large vehicle, such as a car, and a bicycle or pedestrian, it is presumed, for the purposes of insurance, that the motorist is at fault. If there is overwhelming evidence that the opposite is the case – footage from an onboard video recorder, say – this assumption can be contested.

Why is this important?

In short, it is a matter of safety. When drivers know that cyclists enjoy implicit protections under the law, they are likely to be far more cautious when driving around them. A change in behaviour would lead to fewer accidents, fewer injuries, fewer fatalities even.

The potential virtuous knock-on effects are plain to see. If nervous riders start to feel like the law is on their side, they are more likely to make greater use of their two-wheeled friend. Every bike or e-bike ridden by a commuter is another car off the road at rush hour – a prospect Maltese motorists would surely welcome.

But, as things stand, fear is keeping many from making the switch.

In a recent interview aired on RTK103, opposition transport spokesperson Mark Anthony Sammut recalled how he was knocked off his bicycle while negotiating a roundabout.

“I used to work in Birkirkara and it was faster to get there by bicycle than by car. But it isn’t safe,” he said.

If cyclists and cars are forced to vie for the same bits of road, collisions are more likely- Peter Leonard

“Our infrastructure does not consider cyclists and the laws do not protect you.”

Sammut’s point is well taken.

Discussions around changes to the law must be adopted in tandem with far more robust and strategic government investment into cycling infrastructure. Failure to install a network of properly designed and built cycle lanes across Malta is exposing motorists and cyclists alike to unacceptable levels of risk.

If cyclists and cars are forced to vie for the same bits of road, collisions are more likely.

There are risk-mitigation opportunities for motorists too here, by the way.

Evidence from multiple cities across the world indicate that a better segregated road network can dramatically reduce the likelihood of accidents across the board.

In a 2022 paper, Louise A. Bernard, a researcher at the London School of Economics, joined a growing cohort making the case that the halo effect extends beyond just cyclists.

“Not only does the number of accidents per cyclist on the road decrease but the number of total accidents also drops after the construction of the cycling lanes,” Bernard writes.

With presumed liability and a safety-centred infrastructure in place, what do we get? A marked decrease in traffic accidents, fewer insurance claims as a result, and, ultimately, lower premiums for everybody, including motorists.

Cyclists win. Motorists win. Even insurance companies win.

To paraphrase one former US president, if we put in the cycle lanes, we are going to win so much we may even get tired of winning.

If we are going to move this agenda forward, all interested parties need to maintain open lines of dialogue.

When Rota, our pro-active mobility NGO, spoke recently with representatives of the insurance sector, we were heartened to see them take a constructive position on this issue. It is time now for the government to do its bit.

Peter Leonard is public outreach officer at Rota, the cycling promotion NGO.