Online Maltese Community Stands Together Against Dangerous Local Roads
As Malta’s streets continue to get busier and ever more crowded, tragic traffic accidents continue to dot frequent headlines. Just last weekend, a 45-year-old woman died in a head-on collision in Mġarr. The situation for bikes on the road is equally worrying; in one particular week last March, there were five traffic accidents involving motorcycles, all resulting in hospitalisation and a 24-year-old man dying.
With people concerned about a seemingly worsening situation, an online community came together over last weekend to try and brainstorm possible solutions for the busy winter ahead. And it all stemmed from one particular post on the 40,000 member-strong Facebook forum The Salott.
Seeing as the post showed up around three hours after the tragic collision in Mġarr, reference was obviously made to the village’s Triq Sir Temi Żammit. “Without going into the merits of today’s case, I myself was lucky I wasn’t involved in a similar accident a couple of months ago when a driver on the other side of the road lost control,” the person said. “Let’s be honest for a second; most of the drivers on Malta’s roads don’t care about anyone else. And the people who end up dying are the innocent bystanders in all this, so the responsibility just keeps diminishing.”
The post clearly resonated with hundreds of people, and quickly got over 500 reactions. Dozens of comments followed, and it was very clear to see that the issue is very close to many’s hearts.
“Leave the roads one-laned and full of potholes, that way no one can show off,” one comment said. Some agreed, with one person going on to say, “or a sleeping policeman (a speed bump) every couple of metres… maybe one day we’ll learn!”
Speed was clearly one of the biggest worries on people’s minds, with more people suggesting different ways of controlling this. “The only solution is installing speed cameras, because that actually touches people’s wallets,” said another person. And while, as one person noted, there seems to be a growing trend to slow down just before speed cameras and then speed up, another person offered a solution in a technology called SPECS, which calculates a vehicle’s average speed between points.
Some people opted to look at other issues, such as stronger enforcement on speeding and people who cause injuries (or worse) due to lack of diligence on the road. Others questioned whether there was enough police presence and enforcement around the islands. More people shared previous experiences from that same road in Mġarr, and how they too were close to being involved in horrible accidents. And as a lot of people said, many are steadily approaching a point where they’re scared to be on the road.
What do you think can be done to improve safety on Maltese roads? Let us know in the comments below
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