A man died this morning following a crash involving a car and a sulky, the police said.

The accident took place in Dingli Road, Rabat, at 9am.

It involved a Skoda Yeti driven by a 49-year-old woman of Rabat and a sulky on which there were two men, aged 66 and 64, both from Rabat.

The two men were given medical treatment on site and taken to hospital.

The 66-year-old died in hospital.

Magistrate Elaine Mercieca is leading an inquiry.

In a statement, Doctors for Road Safety (D4RS) said it is sad to have to note once again that the number of fatal and grievous road traffic accidents continues to increase. The man who died yesterday was the 9th victim of 2022. This is now already equivalent to the total number of road victims for the whole of 2021, the association said.

Civil society cannot keep on shifting responsibility solely onto accidents or misfortune. D4RS reiterated that consistent and repeated educational campaigns targeting all road users need to be ever present, while law enforcement clearly needs to be significantly stepped up. "We note that road safety falls under the responsibility of many different departments and institutions which one expects must make coordination and effectiveness of this important task highly challenging," the association said.

 

In this time of political pledges, D4RS along with civil society expect our political representatives to come forward with significant and concrete proposals to address this alarming situation. An overarching authority dedicated solely towards road safety which regulates and coordinates these various stakeholders might be a good start.