It’s not about speed

I refer to Dr Debono’s letter entitled “Speed is dangerous” (TMIS, 22 April).

Dr. Debono commented on my letter of the weekend before, and focuses on speed. My letter was not about speed. It was about correcting the misconception that road death rates in Malta have risen, or are rising, and showing that any trends emerging from a selective comparison of any two years are susceptible to the small number effect. This seems to have irked Dr Debono, who is against any use of statistical methods to analyse such data. Rationalisation is based on the selective ignorance of fact.

It is a fact that roads which safely allow cars to travel at higher speeds are among the safest per kilometre travelled. It is a fact that Europe’s roads are the safest in the world. It is a fact that Malta’s road death rates are consistently well below European averages. These are facts, and they cannot be disputed.

On the other hand, Dr Debono makes an argument about speed, without any appreciation of the difference between excessive speed and inappropriate speed. A perfectly legal speed may be inappropriate for current road conditions. Excessive speed is that which is over a defined speed limit, which, ironically, may occasionally not be inappropriate even though illegal. However, no one is arguing for speed limits of 60 and 70 Km/h in villages, and so Dr Debono’s comments are completely out of context.

I would suggest that Dr Debono should take a stand against inappropriate speed, defined as speed which is inappropriate for the current road conditions. We can then open a discussion on

Jean Karl Soler Rabat

what should be an appropriate speed limit for cyclists on local urban and rural roads, and how one would enforce it.