Road Deaths

20 comments

1. Laws won’t help if attitude and enforcement changes

2. We need proper enforcement. People should re-do the driving test. People who don’t know how to drive, should not be on the street. People who cross the road recklessly (and ignore the zebra crossings or lights because they don’t want to walk another 10 meters) should be fined.

   But “enforcement” is non-existent because my friend has a friend who has a friend in politics and they will lose votes.

3. Ah yes, lets have more laws to appease the car industry and car culture

4. Yeah. Someone got shot? Ban the guns. Someone overdosed ban the drugs. Someone is obese ban the food.
   I hope you cancel culture idiots will cancel yourselves in the spite of everything else been already canceled…

5. USA and Canada have jaywalking laws yet they have some of the highest pedestrian death how do you expect it to work in Malta. Here good solution to reduce pedestrian death https://youtu.be/_ByEBjf9ktY or getting rid the need for cars, because Malta so small don’t even need car in theory, but needs good public transit and infrastructure for that to work.

6. Lol that’s ironic considering the fact that this country probably has the most lawless driving culture in all of Europe. Most Maltese drivers will see a 30kmh sign and drive +60, they do takeovers without care for other drivers (or pedestrians), they don’t indicate when they turn and they park where they please.

   Yet somehow it’s pedestrians that is inconsiderate 😀

7. There are some roads without zebras

8. Sure, enforce laws against pedestrians but not against car drivers who kill or maimpedestrians on a weekly basis, including on zebra crossings…

9. As a foreigner that has been living for some months in your country, the first thing that shocked me was how few traffic lights and pedestrian crossings there are. In Spain there’s literally one every single corner, but here it seems to me that people have to risk their lives every time they have to cross the road or walk 200m to find the nearest zebra crossing.

   To be honest, and from an outsider perspective (which might be completely wrong) I don’t think that laws are the main solution to this problem.

10. Can we maybe not blame the pedestrian for being killed and instead blame the driver.

    If you drive a car (more than a ton of machinery) and cannot stop it in time to avoid hitting a person, another car, a goat – it’s **your fault**. It’s always your fault. Look at the Highway Codes in every country. Driving must be done with due care and consideration for unexpected events and road conditions.

    Jail time is the only solution.

11. Most problem is that roads are not prepared for people. Period. Every day I see people jaywalking or walking on the street simply because there’s no place to walk or adequate zebras to cross.

12. I’m torn on this subject.

    On one hand our road infrastructure is terrible, crappy pavements, not enough zebra/pelican crossings, main roads running through town centres the list goes on. That’s without mentioning the general publics terrible driving habits.

    What’s also true is that many pedestrians act dangerously, daily I see people in Mosta running across the road with crossings on 20m either side while stepping out from behind a bus. On bkara bypass people jump over barriers to cross the road next to Klikk while there’s a footpath right underneath. If someone steps onto a main road you still need the stopping distance to break in time.

    We just have a lack of consideration for other people, everyone is so focused on themselves with no care for the repercussios.

    Ultimately the solution is less cars, tax the fuck out of them and use the money to build and maintain a robust public transport system. I wonder which party will get that one done.

    Oh and everyone should be made to retake a driving test every few years to make sure thyre competent.

13. Totally agree. People cross the road in this country like they have a death wish.

14. I’m sure the Mercedes was going less than the speed limit

15. Yea, because jaywalking laws save so many lives on the streets of the US. Or perhaps licenses for pedestrians? A ban on cycling? Anything to distract people from the fact that it’s the motor vehicles that do the killing, and instead blame the victim.

16. Ban the cars. It’s cars and drivers that kill. Island is small enough to walk or cover with buses.

17. Blaming “inconsiderate” pedestrians in a country where there is absolutely nowhere to cross the street safely, where cars never stop and never give priority, never respect road laws. What a bully you are!

18. This happened in 2013 and in a different spot, but the line of argument is very familiar.

    OP, is this you by any chance?

    >The court expert reported **there was a zebra crossing some 500 metres away from the spot of the accident** and that the driver had not exceeded the maximum speed limit of 60km/hr.]

    Source: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/pedestrians-fatal-accident-costs-driver-106000.694216

    I read this 5 years ago and it stuck with me. Having lived in this country, on and off, for 15 years, I can safely say that the only walking infrastructure planners do is to and from their cars.

    Therefore, anyone bringing up furthre restrictions for pedestrians should get fucked (figuratively).

19. I find it funny going for an American solution for car related issues. Of course speed limit in urban areas should be reduced 30km/hr, street parking should be heavily reduced and replaced with wider pavements more trees for shading and a bicycle lane. Free public buses are a great step but constructing the metro is now vital to get people out of their cars. Also a massive redesign and standardisation of all main roads needs to be done to remove sharp corners and black accident spots

20. After reading through this topic I diagnose OP with terminal car dependence.

    Tragedy is always the driver’s fault and I’m saying this as a driver.