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MW April 23 2014

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News maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 23 APRIL 2014 Republic Street, Valletta next to the Courts More breathalyser tests proposed in strategy to reduce traffic deaths JAMES J. PISCOPO MALTA may have the fourth low- est rate of traffic fatalities per capita in the European Union, but a new 10-year road safety strategy is aim- ing at reducing traffic fatalities by half by 2024. The strategy aims to reduce griev- ous injuries caused by traffic acci- dents by 30% and slight injuries by 20%. Transport Minister Joe Mizzi yes- terday said the strategy focused on key areas which evidently needed intervention, citing the Coast Road, the Addolorata junction in Marsa and the Mriehel Bypass as exam- ples. "Malta has a very low road ac- cident fatality per capita, but hav- ing said that, there is still room for improvement. The life of each and every individual is invaluable for my government. A case in point is the government's pledge to build the pedestrian bridge in Mriehel bypass. Although several fatalities took place there during the years, the previous government ignored this issue for years, saying the investment was not worthwhile," the transport minister underlined. The road safety strategy provides specific objectives on six areas, namely safer roads, safer speeds, collisions and casualties, enforce- ment, safer vehicles and safer road users. Among the proposals, the strategy calls for the prohibition of learner- drivers and heavy vehicles from us- ing arterial roads from Monday to Saturday during peak hours. For safer speeds, the strategy aims to establish more 30km/h speed lim- it zones in urban areas while it in- tends to promote other traffic calm- ing measures other than the typical round-topped road hump. The strategy, which will be open for discussion, also plans to review the VRT to improve its effectiveness. This will include more frequent tests on older vehicles and further train- ing for testers. This would go hand- in-hand with other measures that aim to reduce the average age of the vehicle fleet in Malta. The strategy also proposes strengthening random breathalyser and drug tests. It also promotes the application of alcohol interlocks to convicted drink drivers: a vehicle electronic device that detects alco- hol levels through breath samples, and if alcohol is detected the vehicle does not start. The 83-page document consid- ers the present driving test as inad- equate, and proposes ongoing as- sessments of driving instructors and improving minimum requirements such as level of education and expe- rience. To encourage instructors to increase their level of training, an ac- creditation system will be introduced to recognise the improvement. The minimum age to start training will likely go down from 18 to 17, to encourage a longer learning period and "reduce the urgency of obtaining a driving licence within weeks". Over the past decade, there has been a total of 166 fatalities as a re- sult of road accidents. 2012 recorded the lowest figure with nine fatalities, while 2009 registered the highest with 21 fatalities. In the past five years, three in every four fatalities were males (76.6%) which shows that males are more prone to road injuries and fatalities, possibly due to differences in atti- tudes of males in comparison to fe- males, related to speeding, drinking and driving and road safety aware- ness. According to data compiled by the Malta Police and analysed by the National Statistics Office (NSO) and Transport Malta, the majority of both casualties and fatalities were recorded in the 25-39 age bracket. In fact, 30% of fatalities recorded between 2008 and 2012 belonged to this age group followed by the 40-59 age bracket with 25%. The data also confirms that the highest number of road casualties were recorded on Saturday and Sun- day, which may be attributed to the fact that during the weekend there is a higher risk of 'drinking and driv- ing' and over-speeding. jpiscopo@mediatoday.com.mt The strategy aims to reduce grevious injuries caused by traffic accidents by 30% and slight injuries by 20%

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