Times of Malta: Bicycles – hazardous and frustrating – 10 November, 2006

Once again while driving in the dark on a wet slippery road, I nearly ran down a man on a bicycle. He was not wearing anything luminous. His machine was unlit and he was pedalling against the traffic on the wrong side of the road. I was blinded by the lights of an oncoming vehicle and he was lucky I was not driving fast and spotted him in the last second when I took evasive action.

The Transport Authority must first cure the bad habits of pedal cyclists before it tries to change our methods of travel. It should ensure that all those that use the roads including bicycle riders are insured for accidents and taxed for using public roads.

I also note that the Transport Authority in trying to discourage car use intends to give priority to bicycle users not only by the provision of cycle lanes, which would reduce road widths and enable potential revenues to be obtained by local councils, but also to give precedence to them at traffic lights. A small rectangle in front of the stop line at a traffic light is especially indicated for bicycle riders to station themselves in front of waiting motor cars.

This is absolutely silly. It will create frustration and anger for drivers waiting for the lights to change for a quick getaway. Instead they will have to wait for cyclists to remount and slowly take off.

This will shorten the time for a queue of cars to clear the lights before they change to red again. It will cause more pollution, more bad feeling and perhaps more accidents.

The ADT has not yet learnt to position direction signs for safe navigation in particular on the approach to roundabouts. Nowhere where I have driven in Europe will you find direction signs posted on the roundabout itself and nowhere will you find vegetation growing and obstructing a driver’s view of traffic flows on central reservations and indeed on roundabouts. The ADT has a lot to learn before it has the audacity to try and alter our mode of travel. What does it intend to do, turn us into another Beijing of 10 million bicycles to add to the chaos on our roads?