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Jaywalking May Become An Offence In Malta After Judge Calls For Pedestrian ‘Sanctions’

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You might soon be fined for crossing the road at the wrong place after a Maltese judge called for a form of punishment for people who don’t respect the correct crossing points.

“This court suggests that there ought to be sanctions upon those persons who chose to cross the road at a particular point, ignoring a pedestrian crossing or a safer spot along the road,” Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera said as she presided over a court case today.

Her statement came during a court case that involved the involuntary homicide of a young boy in 2015 in St. Andrew’s. 10-year-old Rodwan Aghil was lethally hit by Fatih Pancar, 38, when Pancar sped through amber traffic lights.

However, the court heard how the 10-year-old ran out into the middle of the street and into oncoming traffic

Aghil died an hour later, and Pancar was sentenced to 32 months in jail in 2017. However, his sentence has now been changed to a two-year jail term suspended for three years, and now, Maltese courts are verbally considering introducing new jaywalking laws.

This is not the first time that new sanctions for reckless pedestrians have been considered

Just last year, a Magistrate’s Court had called for the “senseless actions by pedestrians” to begin to be punished in some way by law – calls that Judge Scerri Herrera has now echoed.

With jaywalking being a common occurrence in Malta, a change in pedestrian laws could have large consequences on traffic-related cases, with the burden of guilt falling onto pedestrians more than ever before.

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Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]

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