The meeting, which took place at Dublin Castle in Ireland, was held ahead of the signing ceremony for the European Road Safety Charter. The charter, which is an initiative of the European Commission, is backed by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and six-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher.

It aims to halve the number of fatalities in road accidents within the EU every year from the current 40,000 to 20,000 by the year 2010.

EU member and acceding countries, including Malta, are endorsing the Charter.

Intervening during the meeting, Minister Mugliett said despite the fact that with 40 road traffic-related deaths per million, Malta has the lowest per capita fatality rate in Europe, this statistic can be misleading since fatality rates per kilometre travelled on Maltese roads is two to three times higher than the European average.

“This means that there is still a lot of room to improve our road safety standards, particularly when it comes to driving behaviour, road-user education and enforcement of traffic regulations,” he said.

Minister Mugliett also outlined the government’s road transport policy aimed at making Maltese roads safer for all. He mentioned initiatives such as the introduction of a driving licence penalty point system for all drivers, an upgrade in the standard of driving tests and better training, as well as the provision of infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians.

The minister also said the government will be employing proactive methods to achieve this aim.

“We will also be enhancing our road accident reporting and analysis system to facilitate a better understanding of the causes of accidents. With such a tool at our disposal, we will be able to target vulnerable or high-risk road-user groups or identify specific locations on the road network for appropriate accident remedial measures and enforcement,” Minister Mugliett concluded.