It was eerie driving around yesterday. All over Malta, the majority of motorists were driving along at a leisurely pace, using signals and generally taking it easy.

In a community as small as ours, the news of three people being killed in a traffic accident spread like wildfire. People were talking about it all over the island.

People were sympathetic, as is this newspaper. No one likes to hear of such a horrific incident. Yet it seems that it could have been avoided. The driver of the black car that hit an oncoming bowser is understood to have overtaken two cars and did not have the slightest chance to then take evasive action.

Let us be honest with ourselves. How many times do we see motorists overtaking on blind corners, or accident black spots? All too often would be a reasonable answer.

The truth is, we simply have no patience on the roads and we quite simply have terrible driving skills.

But what can be done? We cannot ban cars, we cannot control the speed at which they travel, and we most certainly cannot control the individual motorist. The truth be told, it is not even worth overtaking in Malta. How many times do people overtake a car, only for it to pull up alongside at the next set of traffic lights? How many times do people make drastic overtaking maneuvers, only to get stuck behind a rubbish truck?

One can see the emergent pattern. Malta is not like the UK, or anywhere else on mainland Europe where speeding up a little over distance can cut your journey time by a half hour or so.

If one were to drive recklessly at full pelt from Birzebbuga to Cirkewwa, how long would it take? Probably about half an hour. If one were to drive at a leisurely pace, it would probably take about 40 minutes. So, we ask, is it all worth it? Of course not, especially when it leads to the death of a woman, her boyfriend and their child.

The state the roads are in is a completely different argument and should not even be brought into it. What is really to be questioned is the temperament of your average Maltese driver - male or female. We are too impatient, often make bad judgment and we simply do not have the experience of driving at high speed. Again, we pose the question, how many times do we see a police statement read: “A man has lost his life after hitting a tree when, for reasons unknown, he lost control of the vehicle”.

This year has been one of the blackest in recent history in terms of driving fatalities, with numbers much higher than the norm. One might also make an observation and say (non-scientifically of course), that there tend to be more accidents in the summer months as tempers flare due to the heat.

Sadly, this issue is one where no one can help us, except ourselves. We must collectively realise that driving in Malta is the equivalent of driving in a city centre such as Rome, or Paris, such is the congestion on our roads. Pelting along at 100 miles per hour (yes it happens and all too often), is certainly not the way to go about things. Our condolences to the bereaved, and we truly hope that in their death, this family might open the eyes of others.