Experts have slammed as unacceptable the state of safety on Maltese roads as the country recorded its 10th fatal accident since the start of the year. 

Motorcyclist Andrea Alamango, 28, died in a crash with another motorcycle on the Regional Road, Gżira, on Tuesday evening.

The number of fatal road accidents in two and a half months is already equivalent to the total for 2021. The figure had been in decline, with 16 in 2019, 12 in 2020 and 10 last year. 

Most drivers believe they own the road and are invincible- Pierre Vella, Malta Road Safety Council

In the wake of the latest road death, members of the Malta Road Safety Council called for drastic changes to driving behaviour and culture.

“Nothing is being learned from all these accidents. People seem to forget that, out on the road, we should act like a community. Most drivers believe they own the road and are invincible,” an angry council chairman Pierre Vella said when contacted.

The surge of fatalities has made the first 10 weeks “particularly challenging and difficult” for emergency medical response teams, said consultant emergency physician Jonathan Joslin, a member of the council.

Overconfidence and inexperience

He said the council considers this state of affairs as “truly unacceptable”.

“Life is too precious. Trauma on our roads is no accident and loss of life is preventable,” Joslin told Times of Malta.

His appeal is similar to that of his colleague, emergency department doctor Michael Spiteri who, on Facebook, made a heartfelt appeal for the public to drive carefully.

He stressed the importance of societal beliefs when it comes to road safety: “When a person understands that driving a vehicle is an important responsibility and that human beings are fragile, they are much more likely to obey the rules of the road and drive safely.”

He put unnecessary risk-taking and speed down to overconfidence and inexperience. “Inexperience in driving introduces difficulties in dealing with unexpected, sudden stops or evasive action if new difficult circumstances arise. From personal experience, both situations have resulted in lives lost.”

More enforcement needed

Vella said the council had seen more excessive speeding, mobile usage, ignoring of stop signs and red lights and an overall lack of responsibility by motorists and society.

“Enforcement is definitely lacking. In today’s world, enforcement can be conducted virtually from a control centre, where most grievances on major roads can be identified.”

The council has no executive powers but its members are front-liners who put forward its concerns and recommendations to the authority.

“We would like to see more enforcement, more vehicles being spot-checked for alcohol abuse, red-light violations, illegal and dangerous parking and phone mobile use.”

Joslin highlighted that speed and alcohol are the two top causes of death and disability on the road.

Drinking culture

“If the drinking culture overshadows road safety culture, with no concern or guilt in getting behind the wheel and driving home after a night out, then enforcement has to be clinical in eradicating this disease,” Joslin said.

Vella suggested setting up safety campaigns that illustrate the injuries caused by road accidents.

“We hardly hear of the outcomes with people in accidents: did they recover, did they suffer a disability?”

The Malta Insurance Association highlighted that the two main political parties failed to mention anything regarding road safety in their electoral manifestos.

Joslin said the idea of setting up a road safety authority or an overseeing body for road safety was a “step in the right direction”.

“It should have the power to implement radical change in addressing defined unacceptable road safety practices, working directly with other stakeholders of local road safety bodies. It would also be able to develop and implement information and education campaigns independently.”

Meanwhile, the National Blood Transfusion Service appealed for people to donate blood, specifically those with Type O positive, which has fallen to ‘critical’ levels as more accidents take place.

Three months… 10 deaths

January 2: An elderly woman hit by a car in Ħamrun.

January 4: The president of Puttinu Cares, Victor Calvagna, 63, after being hit by a car in Qawra while running.

February 2: Steven Sargant, a motorcyclist involved in a collision with a van in Gudja, a week before his 43rd birthday.

February 3: A 71-year-old worker hit by a truck he was helping to manoeuvre in Birżebbuġa.

February 16: Nepali Ajay Shrestha, 28, a food delivery driver hit by a lorry load of scrap metal and a lamp post when the truck overturned on Aldo Moro Road, Marsa.

February 26: 50-year-old James Buttigieg, hit by a car in Mrieħel.

March 5: Robert Azzopardi, 20, who two days earlier had lost control of his car in Baħrija, smashed into a tree and overturned.

March 7: Thirty-eight-year-old Bulgarian motorcyclist Yani Kuzmanov following a crash in Żejtun, the second food courier to die in a traffic accident this year.

March 11: Joe Camilleri, 66, who was riding his sulky when he was hit by a car in Rabat.

March 15:  Motorcyclist Andrea Alamango, 28, involved in a crash with another motorcycle on Regional Road, Gżira.