Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1475578
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 AUGUST 2022 OPINION 11 omies in Europe. It wasn't even all that long ago, in fact, that the 'number of cars- per-household' was cited by gov- ernments as a 'statistical indicator of Malta's economic well-being'. (In other words: we were being encouraged to 'buy more cars than we actually needed'… just to demonstrate, to the rest of the world, that we had the purchas- ing power to actually do it). But still. Even without any fond childhood memories, to height- en the nostalgic effect… I almost struggle to believe that, over the past 43 years, the result of all that national investment in traffic infrastructure – all those studies, and EU-funded projects, and public consultation exercis- es, etc – has been… THIS. A country where the motor- ized vehicle has been prioritised so very much, at the expense of both cyclist AND pedestrian… that we now being encouraged to 'drive our cars', simply be- cause it's become too goddamn DANGEROUS (and/or IMPOS- SIBLE) to get around in any oth- er way. Because that is, effectively, what Infrastructure Minister Aaron Farrugia has just told us, to our faces. There is, he said, "Nothing more than can be done," to accommodate bicycles on our roads. "Our roads are not highways, therefore, either we accommo- date the bicycle in the small space that we have or we don't accommodate it," he told the Malta Independent. "Until today our aim has been to make sure that our roads are safe, to keep our cars moving at pace and then when we can accommodate bicycles, we will also do this." Now: leaving aside that – if his intention really was to 'make sure that our roads are safe'… well, it's been a bit of a 'car- crash' already, hasn't it? An NSO report, published today, has just revealed that: "The number of traffic accidents has increased by almost a fifth from last year'; and that "Some 455 people were injured in the incidents, with 98 grievously injured, including 67 drivers, 13 passengers and 18 pe- destrians and cyclists…" To be fair, however: Farrugia has only been 'in the driver's seat' himself since last May. But this only brings me to a much more glaring problem: before that, the same Aaron Farrugia was Environment Minister; and in that capacity, he had given us a somewhat different picture of his government's overall 'aim', with regard to 'accommodating bicycles'. In 2021, for instance, he had launched the 'Bikeability' pro- gramme: a State-sponsored, free course to teach people how to ride bicycles, so that – in his own words – "they can collective- ly start using cleaner means of transportation. The bicycle is one of the most efficient means of transportation and cycling in it- self reduces traveling times, while it decreases the number of cars in the streets. This will benefit our environment, lowering emissions and helping in mitigating the ef- fects of climate change…" Yet what is he telling us today: now that he himself is the min- ister responsible for traffic infra- structure in Malta? What is his own answer to Freddie Mercury's increasingly-frantic plea that… 'Damn it! I just want to ride my flipping bicycle, that's all!' So far, it seems to be: "Sorry, Freddie, but… you can't. Be- cause we, the people who de- signed Malta's traffic system, don't actually give a toss about cyclists, you know. Nor pedes- trians, either. Nor even the rest of the entire population (much of which is developing respira- tory conditions such as asthma, as a result of air pollution caused chiefly by… CARS.) "Get it now, Freddie? CARS; not people. We only care about CARS. Nice, shiny, noisy, pol- luting, and potentially lethal… CARS. So be a good little boy, now; get into your CAR, and… well, just DRIVE OFF, will you?" And the more I think about it, the more I realise… so THAT's where Freddie Mercury got the inspiration, for his next hit single after 'Bicycle Race': 'Another one bites the dust…' Queen's iconic song "Bicycle Race" was written and recited by Freddie Mercury, who was inspired after perusing the Tour de France outside of a hotel room he was renting I have to admit that there is more than a hint of childhood nostalgia, in all that. And of course, it is altogether too easy to compare today's Malta, with that of 40 years ago… and conclude that – for all the improvement in our standard of living, in the meantime – we have clearly lost something precious (including our peace of mind) in the transaction