Doctors for Road Safety recently held a conference on road safety under the patronage of President George Vella.
Too many people are dying and being injured on our roads. The statistics mention deaths but there are also many injured people who may spend long periods in hospital and out of work besides suffering permanent disability and pain, with dire effects on their family.
Collisions also carry a heavy toll on resources, such as ambulances, civil protection, hospital wards, ITU, theatres and blood transfusion and they have an economic impact of €200 million per year for Malta, as estimated by the World Health Organisation.
This year, so far, there have been 26 deaths on our roads or more than one every two weeks. In recent years, we have seen that the number of people dying in cars has decreased and there has been an increase in pedestrian and motorcycle deaths. There were 15 pedestrians and eight motorcyclists who died so far this year, two car drivers and one sulky driver. Half the motorcyclist deaths and a third of the pedestrian deaths were not Maltese nationals; perhaps they were unfamiliar with our roads.
The map shows that there are at least three black spots where multiple deaths occurred. Triq Diċembru Tlettax, in Marsa stands out.
These areas must be assessed and made safe. Barriers may have to be erected at dangerous crossing points, lighting may have to be optimised and traffic calming measures may have to be introduced.
A safe system approach should include improving all aspects of the problem. This should include performing a road safety management review and providing strong leadership through a lead agency. This should include in-depth analysis of road collisions to learn from them and to take measures to try and prevent similar collisions in the future. There will also need to be more resources to increase enforcement further.
The provision of an organised bus and light rail public transport is known to be a highly effective measure of reducing road deaths and injuries. In Malta, despite free buses, boat services, cheap and efficient taxi services and the increase in the cost of vehicle licences, the Maltese still prefer to use their own vehicles. The cars on our roads increase by 36 every day.
In recent years, there has been an emphasis on roundabouts to control speed and on providing roadside and central barriers. This may have led to the decreased number of deaths on the notorious coast road but we also need to design roads to protect pedestrians. This is especially true for the accident hotspots highlighted in the map.
There has been an increase in pedestrian and motorcycle deaths- Gordon Caruana Dingli
Driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, distractions like mobile phones, driving when tired and driving at speed are major contributors to road tragedies.
The World Health Organisation considers drink-driving to be one of the key risk factors for road traffic deaths. In Europe, 25 per cent of all road fatalities are alcohol related while the figure in the US is 30 per cent. We don’t have accurate statistics for Malta but tests done by the police carried out “with reasonable suspicion” report a high level of positive tests (64-78 per cent).
Of course, there is also the increasing problem of driving under the influence of drugs. We propose that we increase enforcement combined with increased testing of drivers for alcohol and drugs. This will probably need tweaking of our laws and it should be accompanied by a well-designed public education campaign.
Achieving safe speeds is a highly effective measure. In the US, it was estimated that speeding was a factor in 29 per cent of traffic fatalities in 2020. An increase in five per cent of average speed leads to a 20 per cent increase in fatal crashes. There is more energy in collisions at speed, there is increased braking time and there is less time for the driver to react in a dangerous situation. We propose that there is increased enforcement of overspeeding with the use of roadside cameras.
The points deducted from a driving licence are a more powerful deterrent than the fine of a speeding ticket. To be effective this should be accompanied by a review of speed limits on individual roads that are realistic and clearly signposted.
A concurrent publicity campaign will improve compliance. It might even include exploring cooperation with stakeholders like insurance companies, taxi companies and entertainment venues.
The police or other supervising bodies will need an increase in resources to be able to increase enforcement.
It is very encouraging that, last week, the minister rose to the occasion and there are interesting plans to tackle this problem. These will be discussed and rolled out over the coming months.
It is now up to drivers and road users to comply with rules and regulations and to drive responsibly. We need a new culture for safety on our roads.
Gordon Caruana Dingli is a surgeon and vice president of Doctors for Road Safety.