Driving anywhere in the outlying regions of St Julian’s – even all the way to San Ġwann and Naxxar, has become dangerous.

No, it’s not the roadhogs and the boy racers, it’s something far more innocent, but a hazard nonetheless. Foreign students who are here in Malta to learn English understandably head off to St Julian’s for a night out. But when they do so, they tend to bunch up and head down in groups on some pretty badly lit roads with bad surfaces. Of course, these kids do not wear luminescent vests, and as a result it is often very difficult to see them, especially at dusk. Naturally, teenagers engage in horseplay and that was what caused me to almost run one down last week, through no fault of my own. One of them jumped out into the carriageway (there was no pavement) and I had to swerve to avoid hitting him.

I understand that these kids are just being kids, but perhaps it is time for either a decent pavement leading from San Ġwann to Naxxar, or bylaws to prevent jaywalking.

John Hearns

Naxxar