Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/849592
14 "We suffer in Malta because we've got what we call the 'lost generation': children who were never taught to ride a bicycle by their parents, because they thought it was too dangerous. These are now going on to have children of their own, and they're not teaching them either. So we've lost a couple of generations now..." Jim Wightman does not belong to the 'lost generation' he now de- scribes. On the contrary he con- siders himself one of the "belliger- ent, I guess" cyclists who – in his own words – were "fed up of being pushed around, and not seeing any useful changes in infrastructure"... and so came together to form the advocacy group known as BAG. "As individuals we were always complaining in the press, and we kind of naturally gravitated to- gether. At first, we didn't really expect it to be anything more than six grumpy old gits arguing about bikes. But it's grown: our Face- book group has over 2,000 mem- bers now..." The number of bicycles on Mal- tese roads has also grown in recent years; yet it remains pitifully low when compared to most Euro- pean cities. I for one may well be part of that 'lost generation' Jim has just mentioned: not perhaps in the sense that I was never physi- cally taught to ride a bike... but more because I just don't feel safe enough on two wheels in Maltese traffic. "You are not alone," Jim prompt- ly replies when I point this out. "There was a very interesting study by the Portland Transport Associ- ation in the USA in around 2004. They asked people what kind of cyclist they considered themselves to be. Were they the strong type who would go out in any traffic conditions? Were they, perhaps, a little more confident than others, but had their limits? Were they the type who would like to cycle, but only if it were safer? Or would they not cycle at all under any circum- stances? In Malta we've got an aw- ful lot of people who fall into the third category: they are interested, but they don't feel it's safe enough yet. That is partly what BAG is try- ing to do: create an environment which is safe enough for people who would otherwise cycle..." Part of that involves an uphill struggle to overturn negative per- ceptions concerning road safety. Recent EU statistics paint a pic- ture of Malta having the highest road fatality rates in all of Europe: admittedly, the data doesn't al- ways concern bicycle fatalities... but it is hardly encouraging for those who might be consider- ing switching from four-wheeled transport to two. Do these percep- tions really square up with reality, though? From the perspective of someone who cycles every day... how dangerous are Maltese roads in reality? "Maybe I'm a bit biased, because I'm perhaps one of the 'strong' types who would go out in any traffic conditions. To me, Malta is no worse than London in the 1980s... though London's come a long way since then. I think most cyclists can actually get by here: the problem is encouraging those who are more timid..." Part of this problem concerns the very earliest stages of the transi- tion from car to bike. It seem to be a good deal easier for someone to start cycling in Malta... then to actually keep it up beyond the first few days. "We have done quite a bit of work on 'near-miss' data supplied by our members. We find that the most common cause of a 'near-miss' scenario concerns cars getting too close as they drive past. Another thing we ask our riders is to log the number of kilometres they cy- cle each day. It turns out that the average is about 5.6km. Interest- ingly, the corresponding average for cars is 5.2km a day: so we're ac- tually seeing people cycle further than most people drive. But what we also found when extrapolating this data is that, by your second day as a beginner, you will have already had a near-miss. Some- one would have driven by a little too close for comfort: and that is enough to put you off. So you can understand where their fear and concerns come from. Having said that, in Malta we have a cycling fatality roughly once every four or five years. That's a really tiny fatal- ity rate, when you compare to pe- destrians, motorcyclists and other traffic fatalities..." But isn't that also just a reflection of how few cyclists there are on the road? "It is a bit, yes; but you also have to factor in that cycling is grow- ing all the time. We are seeing more bicycles on the road every year. This raises the question: why aren't the fatality rates also going up? It seems to be a long-term trend. And when a cycling fatal- ity does happen, it is often a case of terrible misfortune or bad luck. But largely, most accidents can be avoided by drivers taking more care..." This brings us to the issue of what drivers may be doing to – even if unintentionally – endan- ger the lives of cyclists. From his own experience and that of BAG's members in general... what are the most common causes of accidents (or close shaves) involving cars and bikes? "Looking at the data, one of the main issues is cars pulling out of side streets in front of cyclists. An- other is opening car doors. These are both areas where people gener- ally don't look. What we teach cy- clists is to keep eye-contact wher- ever possible: if you're coming to a junction, and someone is pulling out... you want to look at that guy, and you want him to look back at you. If he hasn't looked back at you... then he hasn't seen you. So you need to start thinking about taking evasive action. Basically, you need to be on the ball more than they, because you're the one who's more vulnerable..." But how much of this danger can be put down to 'wilful' negligence on the part of motorists? Often, cyclists complain of an attitude whereby car drivers feel they have a 'privileged' status vis-a-vis bicy- cles... as though the bicycle is some kind of trespasser on a road-net- work that was intended primarily for cars... "There is a tiny percentage of people who are bullies, yes... and let's be fair: not just towards cy- clists. They're bullies towards oth- er car drivers, too. They just have a belligerent attitude: they'll get behind you and honk their horn, because they think you're not get- ting out of the way fast enough. That's really annoying, particularly for a beginner. They'll come a bit too close... they might pull out even if they've seen you, because as long as they've got their back to you, it's your problem, not theirs. But they do exactly the same thing with other cars. The thing is, there are good drivers and bad drivers... just as there are good cyclists and bad cyclists." What about the perception that cars have somehow more 'right' to be on the road than bikes? My understanding is that the Highway Code applies to bicycles as much as to cars... but it is undeniable that cars offer more protection to their occupants than bicycles. Doesn't this also mean that per- haps cars and bikes shouldn't be treated equally in the eyes of the law after all? That in the interest of safety, traffic regulations should somehow be made more 'bicycle friendly'? "I think there should be different rules. The modern way of look- ing at cycling – and it counts for pedestrians, too – is that the rules should be different, simply because the level of protection is different. One example of how this is done in other countries is segregated cycle lanes: particularly in London, with the 'cycling superhighways'. From the moment they were built they were incredibly popular, because they provide an actual physical barrier between cyclists and traf- fic..." It sounds a bit difficult to imple- ment in Malta, though: with the roads being the size they are, and space too limited to create new ones... "I recently said much the same thing at the European Conference on Road Safety, where I was chair- ing one of the workshops. I was discussing cycling infrastructure with a woman from Amsterdam, and I said: 'We can't really do it here, because we've got medieval cities, the roads are very narrow, etc...'. She replied: 'What do you think we've got in Amsterdam? It's a medieval city, too. We've got ex- actly the same problems: we can't just widen the roads because of the canals, etc.' So what they do [in Amsterdam] is have one street for cars... and the next street parallel to it reserved for cyclists, and pe- destrians in general: a place where children can play in the streets, making for a more liveable com- munity. I think that's the way we need to go in the long-term..." But there are other, simpler measures that can be taken in the meantime. "I think we have to go for low-hanging fruit. One of the easiest things we can do is set up cycling routes: not separate lanes, just signposted routes indicating where cyclists should go. One of the biggest problems people en- counter when shifting from car to bicycle, is that they keep using the routes they are used to when driving. So they're still in traffic: it's smoky, smelly, noisy, there are Interview By Raphael Vassallo maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 JULY 2017 It's like a festering zit on a teenager's face. At some point, it is going to pop. Now: who actually squeezes this zit... whether it's the Nationalist or Labour government... I don't know. But at some point, the transport minister is going to have to take that zit and squeeze it. TRAFFIC Cycling: Malta's great By your second day as a beginner, you will already have had a near-miss. Someone would have driven by a little too close for comfort: and that is enough to put you off BAPTISM OF FIRE