PD calls for changes to cyclist liability laws as roads are ‘clearly unsafe’

● ‘To make an injured cyclist establish legal fault is a grave injustice’

Partit Demokratiku pointed out yesterday that Malta is one of the five remaining European countries in which an injured cyclist needs to prove that the driver who accidentally hit the cyclist did so negligently.

The problem, according to PD, is that establishing such liability is a difficult challenge and is biased against cyclists.

“Malta’s roads are clearly unsafe for cyclists. Transport Malta’s road designers aren’t extending the cycle infrastructure network efficiently, as they are simply creating cycle lanes almost haphazardly. The cycle lane along the Coast Road and recent additions elsewhere demonstrate poor connectivity and design standards, especially at junctions and roundabouts,” PD deputy leader Timothy Alden said.

He observed how the presumed liability system recognises that the liability of one’s actions should be proportionate to the degree of danger which they impose on other road users.

“A presumed liability legal system may not prove to be popular with insurance companies and motorists, but our civil law needs to be amended. Bad driving has already been handled with tougher regulations leading to bigger penalties and driving bans by the justice ministry, but these have not yielded any improvements on cycle accidents. More enforcement and on-the-spot fines would go a long way to deter users from infringing the Highway Code.”

Party leader Godfrey Farrugia adds: “To make an injured cyclist establish legal fault is a grave injustice. The reply to my parliamentary question on reported traffic accidents by cyclists shows that there is much room for improvement.

“Educational awareness and campaigns are important, but with the lingering ‘king of the road’ attitude by some drivers and the hellish traffic congestion experienced in some areas, civil law needs to be positively amended.”

PD noted that a legal motor insurance framework that concurs with the good practice in the rest of Europe is a necessity: “All road users, motorists, cyclists and pedestrians owe each other a duty of care.

“It is time that government provides adequate and safe road network for cyclists and revisits civil law, so that both drivers of bicycles and motor bikes are less likely to be injured.

“Their incidence of morbidity and mortality is too high to accept.”