The Regional Road, which stretches from St Julian’s towards the University of Malta, has claimed five lives in as many years, making it the country’s most deadly stretch of tarmac, according to data obtained from the National Statistics Office.
The Coast Road places second in terms of fatalities, as four people died there since 2014.
But the scenic drive takes the top spot as the most dangerous road since it was the site of 31 serious or fatal injuries.
This was followed by St Andrew’s Road that links Swieqi and St Julian’s – where 26 people suffered serious injuries and three died since 2014.
St Andrew’s Road leads just off the Coast Road and onto the Regional Road (officially called Mikiel Anton Vassalli Road) making the three roads – located on the outskirts of the entertainment hub Paceville – Malta’s deadliest and most dangerous.
This emerged from the figures obtained by the NSO that show the number of serious injuries and fatalities that occurred on the road in Malta and Gozo from 2014 until June 2019. The data does not distinguish between motorists and pedestrians. (A recent report by the European Transport Safety Council showed that half the deaths that occurred on Malta’s roads between 2015 and 2017 involved pedestrians).
The numbers show that the top three dangerous roads were the Coast Road, followed by St Andrew’s Road and Burmarrad Road in St Paul’s Bay where, in the latter, there were 26 serious injuries and two fatalities.
Next was Aldo Moro Road in Marsa (16 serious injuries and three fatalities), Ħal-Far Road in Birżebbuġa (14 serious injuries, two fatalities) and Valletta Road Żurrieq (12 serious, three fatalities).
A look at the fatalities showed that 2016 was a record year when 23 people died on the roads. In 2017 there were 19 fatalities and in 2018 there were 18. Seven people died on the roads in the first six months of this year.
So far this year, the most notorious road has been Mġarr Road Għajnsielem where two people died and a further six people suffered serious injuries.
In October, Għajnsielem mayor Kevin Cauchi made yet another call to introduce traffic-calming measures along the road from Victoria to Mġarr in Gozo.
The road has seen several serious accidents over the years. Information given in Parliament shows that between 2013 and the end of March this year, there was one fatality and 84 injuries. The Gozo Ministry said it started discussions with Transport Malta to draw up a traffic management plan which is already being implemented in phases.
Over the past years, the government invested millions in improving roads, having just completed the upgrade of the Regional Road.
This followed the completion of the Coast Road and the Kappara junction with other works taking place on the Ħamrun-Marsa bypass, December 13 Road and Aldo Moro Road.
Next on the list of megaprojects is the stretch of road between the Coast Road and Paceville.
But do road improvements save lives?
Traffic expert Joe Micallef Stafrace pointed out that the most dangerous roads in the country were the ones that saw a lot of traffic.
While good roads and traffic calming measures helped, he said that 40 years of experience taught him that the main cause of accidents was drivers’ shortcomings.
“We focus on drugs and alcohol but what about tired drivers,” he said, adding that speed was another problem that had to be tackled.
“When there is speed, an accident becomes a tragedy,” he said, calling for more education and adding that police presence was an effective deterrent.
Pierre Vella, executive chair of the Malta Road Safety Council, agreed and said there was the need for an advanced driving centre where drivers could experience what happened when a car or motorbike, traveling at a normal speed, experienced a sudden brake, amongst other things.
“The mentioned roads are just a few where speed comes instant[ly],” he said.
“One has to appreciate that the dynamics and handling of both cars and bikes change dramatically when speed increases; it is not just the weight distribution but also the stability, and handling electronics that activate themselves according to the speed which will result in a total different handling of the vehicle in question.
“This is why it’s very important that we keep within the stated speed limits,” Mr Vella pointed out.