Today is Malta’s Republic Day. It is normal on days of commemoration such as this one, for this newspaper to comment on the historic importance of such events. This year, we feel that it can be missed in order to comment on an issue which is rapidly spiralling out of control. That issue is the amount of accidents – many of which fatal – which are becoming an almost daily occurrence in Malta.

Over the weekend, three people died and two people were seriously injured in traffic accidents. Two elderly people lost their lives in a car crash in St Paul’s Bay, while a tourist died after being run over in Ghajnsielem.

At the time of going to print, another man was in a critical condition as a result of a head-on smash involving a motorcycle and a car in Hal Far while yet another – a 62-year-old – had been hospitalised to treat slight injuries after a crash in San Gwann.

This year has been atrocious. We have seen two young parents perish with their toddler daughter. We have seen the court rulings on a case which left two young teenagers dead. We saw the tragic death of a popular cyclist.

We have seen fatality after fatality on our roads and it just doesn’t seem to let up – 20 people lost their lives in traffic-related incidents this year – and there’s still time for more.

It has been a bad year all round and this has been noticed by the media. It really does seem to have been freakish in nature with accidents and mishaps claiming the lives of many.

But one must seriously start to question the safety of our roads. Unfortunately, the cause of many of the accidents has been young males who buy souped up machines. It is very simple, on the whole: they posses neither the experience, skills nor rationality of judgment to be in control of the cars.

Of course, there is another factor – people who are far too old to be in control of a vehicle being allowed to drive on our roads. Just as much as young inexperienced drivers are a danger, older people who do not have the reactions, presence of mind and observation skills simply should not be allowed to be in control of a vehicle.

We must also mention early morning or late evening walkers. They also have a responsibility and that means making oneself visible to traffic by wearing a fluorescent vest or something of the sort to alert motorists to one’s presence.

Education, enforcement and better training is also needed. To be fair, the police do make it a point to nab the boy racers who squeal their tyres or overtake on blind corners. But for each one that is told off or fined, many others get away with it on a regular basis. In fact, it is normal to end up waiting at the lights with a flashing neon Hyundai up your bum, literally being revved up to fight the handbrake and fly out of the blocks.

You simply cannot escape it. Malta really does need a points system before we get to a stage where we might have to put restrictions on car ownership.

Having said that, the idea is a food for thought. What if the authorities introduced a law whereby people under a certain age can only buy a small cylinder (or hybrid) engine vehicle. Based on their driving record over the next five years, they might then be considered for a 1300 or above engine. Makes sense, one would think.