The Covid-19 Pandemic has had a great impact on Malta, both socially and economically. As shops shut, as hotels remain closed, as more and more people work from home, one side-effect is a significantly reduced load on our road infrastructure.

This has significantly reduced travel times for those who do work, but it has also had some significant counter-effects which could put lives at risk.

Respect on the roads has diminished. Some drivers have taken the reduced traffic to mean that they can do whatever they want on the roads, but they can’t, and in such a believe they are putting other people’s lives at risk.

The most obvious evidence of this is speeding.

On Easter Sunday, 64 drivers were fined for speeding, the police said in a statement. One person was selfishly driving at 185km/h, over 100km/h above the speed limit. At that speed, losing control would most likely result in tragedy, and driving at such speed shows a total disregard to human life.

On Sunday, a number of road checks were carried out by the Traffic Branch, the Rapid Intervention Unit and the Special Intervention Unit at the Coast Road, the St Paul's Bay Bypass and Mellieha, among other places. Such work by the authorities handling road traffic is of the utmost importance during these trying times, lest some motorists become bolder in their disregard for road regulations. In fact, the police indicated that more checks will be made in the coming days, truly welcome news.

But speeding is not the only problem. There have been instances witnessed by journalists in this newsroom of road rules being ignored.

As an example, a trailer was observed not slowing down upon entering a roundabout, causing those cars already turning on said roundabout to brake suddenly. A similar situation was also noted involving a cement mixer instead of a trailer. Larger vehicles must follow the rules of the road as well, and should be extra vigilant considering that the size of their vehicles could inflict so much harm on others.

One must also remember that cars, truck and larger vehicles are not the only ones on the road. Cyclists, quad-bike users and motorbike riders are also present. While car users should keep their eyes open for people using the above-mentioned means of transport, it works both ways. In addition, motorbike riders must keep within the speed-limit, and not try any dangerous manoeuvres just because the roads are far clearer than they used to be.

The police have their hands full at the moment, with many officers busy with Covid-19 related duties. The more we can do to ease the burden on their resources the better. The least we can do is not speed, follow the road regulations and avoid accidents.

When speeding or disregarding road rules, one not only puts their own life at risk but also the lives of others.