Despite a slight year‑on‑year drop in accident numbers, Malta's streets have taken a grim turn, with fatalities rising and near‑miss incidents happening more frequently. If present trends continue, 2025 may well be remembered as one of the deadliest years in recent memory.

According to the National Statistics Office (NSO), Malta recorded 4,026 road traffic accidents between April and June of this year, marking a 9.2% decline compared to the same period of last year. While this appears to be a step in the right direction, unfortunately it does not translate into safer roads, as the number of fatalities has actually risen when compared.

The number of fatal accidents rose from three deaths in Q2 2024 to five lives lost in Q2 2025. In fact by late July 2025, road fatalities had already reached 16, surpassing the total of 12 deaths throughout 2024. One particularly tragic stretch saw five people lose their lives in just one week at July's end, bringing the total fatality count to 16, already exceeding the full year of 2024. The warning is on the wall, and if things do not change quickly, 2025 is on track to surpass the 2022 high of 26 road deaths.

There are multiple factors which seem to be contributing to this state of affairs.  Intensified frustration behind the wheel, a lack of driver education, and minimal enforcement of the roads perhaps are the most obvious reasons that spring to mind.

Rightly so, the Nationalist Party has condemned what appears to be an absence of political will to tackle the growing chaos on our roads, for some odd reason. The lack of enforcement and police presence on our roads is conspicuous in its absence.

Dangerous and illegal behaviour behind the wheel goes unpunished most of the time, as drivers know that they can get away with it, with impunity. Enforcement of traffic laws remains extremely weak.

Public sentiment isn't wrong to complain that traffic control has failed, and pedestrians, drivers and anyone else who uses the streets are increasingly feeling unsafe. Dated infrastructure and scarce enforcement on both behavioural and speed violations cannot go unchecked any longer. Without adequate enforcement, reckless driving, speeding, and road-rage incidents are bound to continue to rise.

Road-rage, in particular, is increasingly common. Drivers pushed by stress, delays, and impatience vent anger on the road, escalating dangerous situations. Yet, few consequences follow.

I agree with the Nationalist Party's call for a national action plan that would address the crisis, however this would work much better if it had to be a cross-party, bilateral effort if we want to start addressing the change in culture needed.

We must grow away from our deadly dependence on cars, which have taken over every square inch of the country and our lives. The situation has come to a head now, as every last accident that claims a life is a perfectly avoidable tragedy.

Fatalities may grab the headlines, but near-miss incidents are also something we cannot continue to ignore. The video footage of a car ploughing into a hairdresser's salon was yet another shocking example of a perfectly avoidable accident which luckily did not leave any fatalities in its wake.

We must act swiftly if we want to reverse this worrying trend. We must embark on a coordinated, cross-party national road safety strategy involving all stakeholders including policy makers, law enforcement, transport agencies, and the community.

We need stronger enforcement on our roads in a way that it becomes a true and credible deterrent to careless behaviour. This needs to be done in tandem with stronger driver education, as evidently, we have lost basic drivers ethics, to start with.

Ultimately, it has to result in a complete cultural shift, which promotes patience on the road, shared responsibility, and respect for fellow drivers and pedestrians.

Only this way can we start looking forward to safer roads for all.

Alexander Mangion is Deputy Mayor of Attard