Transport policy to retain focus on road safety

The government's road transport policy for the next five years would again focus on road safety and the environment, Transport and Communications Minister Censu Galea said.

Future initiatives in the area of road safety would include the introduction of a penalty points system for first-time drivers, an upgrade in the driving test, the compulsory use of rear seat belts and child restraint systems, encouraging the use of alternative forms of transport to the private car and better training, regulation and provision for cyclists and pedestrians.

Mr Galea, who was speaking on road safety at an informal meeting of Ministers for Transport of the European Union in Verona, said the government would also be enhancing the accident reporting and analysis system as a tool to facilitate targeted policy-making and engineering design aimed at reducing commonly occurring types of road traffic accidents.

He said Malta underwent the unenviable transition into having one of the highest per capita car ownership levels in the world. And, as a result, in just 10 years, from 1985 to 1995, the total number of road accidents increased from 6,000 to over 15,000.