The driving habits of the Maltese sometimes leave a lot to be desired. This year has been a somewhat black year in terms of accidents involving both motorists and pedestrians. Three members of the same family lost their lives in one accident while pedestrians have also been victims.
There are many issues related to this state of affairs and the first one to be mentioned would have to be the lack of respect shown towards pedestrians by motorists.
On the whole, at best, we have a situation where pedestrians are regarded as ‘second class citizens’ by the majority of motorists.
Sometimes people risk life and limb to cross the road, even if it is on a zebra or pelican crossing. You see it all the time, people waiting on the crossing itself, with cars not relenting at all and pressing on at full speed, ignoring the person waiting at the crossing.
Other times, you see more daring pedestrians set foot onto the crossing, only to be greeted by the screeching of tyres from an oncoming vehicle.
The lack of respect, not only to pedestrians, but also to traffic regulations is there for all to see and is the major cause of accidents.
But there are other facets to the arguments. One would also have to mention adequate markings on the road as well as adequate lighting. It is not the first time that people have come across a person waiting at a zebra, or pelican crossing, with the motorist getting caught in two minds because he or she cannot see the markings of the crossing.
Of course, commonsense and courtesy should dictate that the motorist stops, but it is not that easy to make a split second decision.
The pedestrian also has duties on the road, of course. For a motorist, there is nothing more infuriating than someone making a mad dash across the road when there are lights just a few metres further down the street.
In Malta, we also have a problem in the sense that there are no alternatives for pedestrians to crossings. We have improved in villages and commercial centres with new pedestrian areas and traffic calming measures, but there is still more to do.
There are also the famous subways in St Anne’s Street and near the university. Quite frankly, the ones in Floriana are as ominous as a scene out of a horror film, complete with an overwhelming stench of urine.
The University subways are almost as bad, with much of them covered in graffiti and another instance of an overwhelming smell of pee. These are viable alternatives, but they need to be kept in check. One might argue that CCTV will not be effective as the cameras will simply be vandalised anyway.
Perhaps, the authorities might consider, at least on very large thoroughfares placing overpasses. These are pre-fabricated bridges which go over roads to allow pedestrians safe passage across.
It is only with improving all we have mentioned in this editorial, that we can improve the safety of the pedestrian. We need better lighting at crossings, better placed crossings, more education for the motorist as well as the person crossing the road. We also need alternatives to cross the road. Whether that is above or under ground does not really matter. What does matter is that people should not be scared of using these alternatives and should not be disgusted by them either. It’s quite a sad state of affairs.