Reference is made to your report on a traffic incident in which a cyclist was seriously injured in a road accident (Driver fined €200 after seriously injuring cyclist, 13 May). The driver, who eventually admitted responsibility for the accident, was awarded a derisory penalty by our courts. According to the transcript of court proceedings, the driver faced at least six charges. These included driving without due care and attention, driving a motor vehicle in a negligent and dangerous manner, driving a motor vehicle without due regard of traffic regulations, causing injuries of a serious nature to a cyclist, driving away from the scene of the accident, failing to give her particulars and failing to report the incident to the police or local wardens.
Given the seriousness of the accident, fining the driver a mere €200 and suspending her license for all of two weeks is nothing short of obscene – it is also an insult to the victim.
In civilized countries even minor accidents involving vulnerable road users are taken seriously. In a case like this the driver would be awarded very harsh penalties especially in the event that the driver left the site of the accident. In countries where all road users enjoy protection of the law, responsibility for such an accident would have meant imprisonment and two-year license suspension. The disregard for this severely injured road user is shameful. Given the severity of injury, €200 does not go any way towards covering the victim’s medical treatment. Who will foot the bill for this victim’s treatment? If it is the government, then the taxpayer will be paying for this driver’s crime.
There have been, in the recent past (2008 – 2012), seven serious bicycle accidents caused by motor vehicles. In two of these accidents the cyclists were killed. Both these were experienced cyclists who were cycling correctly. These accidents were followed up by the police only by virtue of the seriousness of the injuries.
The accident referred to above and the six other accidents which still await further court action, are the tip of an iceberg. They represent only a few cases which were followed up by the police.
As things now stand, accidents involving vulnerable road users (such as cyclists) are mostly ignored by the police if serious injury is not sustained by the victim. As a result, most traffic incidents that involve cyclists or pedestrians don’t reach our courts. In the rare event that they do, the courts tends to adopt a lenient approach towards vehicle drivers and it often happens that the victim is made to feel responsible for the accident. Typical such cases were reported in this newspaper on 12 December 2008 (Driver cleared of injuring young fast bicycle rider) and 7 May 2103 (Young cyclist told motorist who hit him: ‘don’t worry it’s not your fault’). In both instances the cyclist was deemed to have been entirely to blame – and the driver acquitted - when the facts as reported rather suggested that this was not the case.
The derisory penalty of €200 and a 2-week license suspension, as awarded in this latest case, is typical of the lax attitude to road safety for all. There is a gross disproportion between the overzealous regime conducted by wardens on minor parking contraventions and absurdly lenient penalties awarded to careless driving which endangers other road users. This sends the wrong message to motorists that they can endanger vulnerable road users with impunity. It also means that no protection is afforded to other legitimate road users from reckless driving. It is little wonder that conditions on our roads are so dangerous.
G G Debono
Sliema