There is no greater love than that of a parent.  Don’t we all know this?  People who are fortunate enough to be parents and were handed this privilege know well-enough that they would do anything to see their sons and daughters doing well.  Parents would give one’s life in the blink of an eye for their offspring. 

I’ve known parents who are tremendously talented and could have done so well for themselves financially and career-wise but instead chose to focus all their energies on the upbringing of their children. I’ve known other parents who have endured insurmountable pain to make sure that their children get on with their life notwithstanding the lack of resources the family might have endured.  Veritably my own parents have thought me what real parenting means; ‘unconditional love’, nothing more nothing less.     

Now let’s face it, parents are in an unremitting state of edginess hoping that in every transition phase their children will have made another step towards becoming better persons, in the process developing a virtuous character and learning to face life challenges with firmness.  The satisfaction parents experience whenever they see their children moving up the next rung on the ladder of ‘life’ is a life-exam that parents feel that they have managed to outstrip.

But probably the most prized moment in parenthood is when you see your children reaching the age of independence, 17, 18 years of age, seeing them settle down in their studies, career, profession and relationships. 

This is the moment when parents breathe a sign of relief. 

Parents will have their minds at rest when their children are shifting into adulthood.  Mums and Dads seem to rest on the fact that they have done their duty and now it’s up to them and God to take life forward. 

Because this is what parents do, they work hard so that their children develop this sense of likelihood in life and help them discover their vitality and playfulness.  Parents’ rally around their children to help them nurture the mind's eye, zeal and passion.  Parents try to instill in their offspring the art of enterprise and contemplation, to be wise and to do good for their own and with their own.  They implant in them a willingness to be sprightly, vivacious and to live to the full. 

Isn’t that what all parents aim to do?

So how would you feel if all of this disintegrates in one single moment, because someone does the reckless, foolish and rash?  How would you feel losing your son and daughter because of the neglect, remiss and slipshod behaviour of one person? 

So how would you feel when all the dreams, the work, the resources, the commitment and the aspirations ‘you’ would have put into your 17 and18 year old son or daughter are switched-off once and for all, and you’re life turns into complete darkness with no colour and no illumination? 

Maybe your heart would sink deep down into the shadows of your soul because all you have worked and lived for has been taken away and all the sacrifices you have done, choices and decisions taken seem to have been dismembered in one single move? 

Last Saturday’s edition of Ghandi xi Nghid on Radju Malta was probably one of the most powerful programs I’ve had to anchor in these last years.  With a panel made up of John Bundy, one of the best broadcasters around and also a biker, Dr Leonie Baldacchino an intellectual and a biker herself and the unassuming topmost lawyer Dr Joe Giglio, we discussed the legal challenges, the practical difficulties that bikers and drivers and pedestrians alike are facing with this high flow of traffic that seems to be spiraling out of control. 

I acknowledge that if we had to listen to what the people on the panel suggested we could have a much improved situation on our roads.  The tragedies that our streets are claiming are too many to overlook.  An estimated six individuals have lost their lives on our roads since the beginning of the year, an average of a person per month - incalculable the number of others who were injured.    

But I believe that the strongest contribution to the programme was made by Tony Vella who joined the discussion later on in the programme. 

Tony was one of the parents who lost his 17 going to 18 year old son in that dreadful accident in 2005, ten years ago, on the recently inaugurated road leading to Zebbug.  Five young men died at one go, in one instance, after the van they were in smashed into a wall.  They were chewed-up-and-spat-out. 

High speed, lack of concentration, an over-crowded van, possibly excessive alcohol intake, wrong decisions all-along-the-line led to this tragedy.  In a split second five young people, set to tackle life’s challenges, Osvaldo, Fabio, Marco, Christian and David passed away, another two were injured and the driver ended up serving time.  Even though almost ten years have passed, since the streets gobbled up the lives of these youngsters, Tony’s eye’s still filled with tears when he was sharing his story, pain he admitted he could never heal from.  He said that he longs for justice and that people not fit for purpose should be prevented from driving and all the necessary precautions taken before we have to succumb to such tragedies.

The story of Tony complimented the serious car crash that Claudette Abela Baldacchino, the renowned broadcaster told us about, the consequences of which she still carries to this day.  We also heard Sandra Kitcher revealing the upshot that the accident her husband had to endure after being hit by a car when he was driving his motorbike, an accident which brought forth the thoughtlessness from those responsible and problems, financial and other that people who go through such a situation have to endure.  Marcelle Abela spoke about the heartbreak her family had to suffer when her father was killed following a hit-and-run accident as a result of the driver being under the effect of alcohol.  A biker on the other hand wanted to talk about the responsibility he carried for his own accident because of the erroneous decisions he took when on the road.  These are just an illustration of the larger picture of never ending accidents that are encapsulating us, happening all the time, some fatal, various serious, a few demonstrably lucky.

Apart from the odd initiative and the politicians that talk nineteen to the dozen very little seems to be taking place tangibly.  The occasional amendments to the law and regulations are knee-jerk reactions after people die or hurt seriously.  Naively every time we are faced with an accident we start talking again about the need for long-term solutions. 

During the in-studio discussion a number of factors were brought into the debate that are contributing to this inundation of accidents; alcohol abuse and drinking above legal limits, lack of breathalyzer tests, illegal use of mobiles, low quality street paint and tarmac, hardly any roadblocks, pot holes, bad signage, incompetent drivers, a lack of police monitoring - all contributing to these accidents.

Traffic accidents have been claiming one life after another and so many commuters. pedestrians and drivers are permanently injured. 

I don’t know if it’s just my impression, but it sure seems to be more than a perception that our road network has collapsed and is in a state of confusion and chaos and cannot take on additional traffic, especially in streets known to be hazardous. 

We need more than the odd sign stating ‘hot spot’, the sporadic speed bumps or the occasional speed cameras. 

We need a suitable momentous strategy, whether its digging tunnels or introducing the mono-rail, whether boosting traffic penalties or improving the drivers training curriculum, whether it’s seeing more police officers on the road or better enforcement of current rules - the truth is the situation calls for decisions, because as you read this article another life is about to be taken and it might be someone you know and like Tony you will suffer ceaselessly .