Are Maltese motorists prejudiced against cyclists? Are our roads suitable for bicycles to begin with? Raphael Vassallo talks to local enthusiasts about a hobby and a passion that is increasingly coming to resemble a daily dice with death
With its low annual rainfall, short distances and generally negotiable landscape, Malta should really be a paradise for cyclists. But talk to any cyclist and the very opposite scenario will immediately unfold before your eyes. Not only are our roads in too poor a condition for safe cycling to begin with; but the cyclists themselves claim to often fall victim to harassment, intimidation, bullying and road rage, as well as the risk of accident caused by a number of bad habits among Maltese drivers.
Nowhere was this more graphically illustrated than by the recent death of Clifford Micallef - a Lifecycle Challenge participant and veteran of the local cycling community, who was killed in a collision with a car last month.
Clifford’s friends, family and fellow Lifecycle enthusiasts now hope his death will not have been in vain: that the publicity surrounding this tragedy will serve to raise awareness about the particular vulnerability of cyclists on Maltese roads.
But it seems we still have a fair distance to pedal: as one cyclist bitterly observed, the general attitude towards their hobby has actually deteriorated since the accident... and this can be attested by the numerous, often shockingly insensitive online comments posted in response Clifford’s death.
Roads to nowhere Even without this inexplicable animosity towards cyclists in general, riding a bicycle on Malta’s roads is hardly a walk in the park.
Admittedly, ‘criticising the roads’ has become something of a national pastime in our country. But it is one thing to hold a pothole responsible for the untimely demise of the family car’s suspension; and another thing altogether to have to depend on the quality of a road’s surface for your very life.
John Farrugia, an amateur cyclist who competes in the annual Lifecycle charity event, points out that one’s choice of bicycle automatically limits the availability of roads on which to ride.
“I cycle quite frequently, almost daily, and mainly with my road bike. With this kind of bike one has to choose where to cycle, as due to the thin wheels and delicate tyres, the roads must be very well asphalted. Unfortunately in Malta there are very few such roads, so you end up cycling the same routes over and over again...”
The recent addition of bicycle lanes on certain roads was in part intended to address this issue: but cyclists are not exactly enthusiastic by the results.
“Some of the roads on these routes do have cycle lanes, yes, but these are the worst part of the road to cycle in,” Farrugia says. “They gather all the glass, stones, nails and dust, the perfect combination for a puncture. So at times, one has to cycle in traffic on the streets...”
Karen Vella, fellow cycling enthusiast and Lifecycle participant, shares his frustration. “We do not have proper cycling lanes as one would find in other European countries, and most are on main thoroughfares which can’t be avoided when one cycles seriously. Most main roads are narrow, so although cyclists always use the side of road, more often than not we share the lane with impatient motorists who fail to realise that slightest move on their part could throw us off balance. Besides, the side of road is more often than not uneven and littered with broken glass and such like, causing us to occasionally have to swerve to avoid them. So if motorists don’t give us any breathing space it becomes a dangerous game!”
Similarly, Lifecyclist Joe Camilleri, who has been cycling for over 10 years, complains that the state of the roads have not improved as much as one might have expected, given Malta’s status as EU member.
“Roads in Malta are generally in a very pitiful state and are harmful to vehicles, let alone to bicycles and/or motorcycles. I appreciate that the present government (in its recent electoral manifesto) has undertaken to upgrade the general state of roads in Malta and there has been a general, albeit small improvement in some of the major arterial roads. However, much more needs to be done to get our roads up to European standards for all vehicles and individuals who use such roads.”
Camilleri also argues that the sheer number of licensed vehicles on the road in itself poses a threat, and not just to cyclists either.
“The problem for cyclists is further exacerbated by the fact that Malta has one of the highest percentages of car users per square kilometre,” he adds. “This fact alone makes Maltese roads dangerous for cyclists or other road users (there have also been tragic cases of people who were accidentally killed while jogging).”
Kings of the Road But what emerges as a pressing concern among cyclists is the alarming level of prejudice against bicycles among owners of motorised vehicles.
It appears that a fair percentage of these motorists tend to view the roads in general as their own, uncontested domain. This in turn gives rise to frequent expressions of contempt and disdain – if not outright hostility and violence – towards cyclists in general.
Karen Vella is one of the many who complain about being subjected to verbal abuse by vehicle drivers on a regular basis.
“Most motorists regard us as a nuisance,” she says simply. “According to several hurled insults, which have become a regular experience, we are expected to move OUT OF THE WAY, regardless of fact that we are minding our own business at the side of road, and in any case there is nowhere one can move to! Usually we get revving engines and hooting horns behind us, which can be very confusing and alarming...”
Significantly, Karen Vella adds that harassment and intimidation tends to be considerably worse in the case of female cyclists.
“A small percentage of motorists go out of the way to intimidate cyclists, female cyclists in particular. Almost all can relate stories where motorists actually came into physical contact with them while riding...”
Marie Claire Aquilina, also an experienced cycling enthusiast, similarly complains about “the unwillingness of Maltese motorists to share the road.”
“Aggressive behaviour towards cyclists is common,” she asserts. “People do not seem to understand that cyclists have as much right to use the roads as motorists do. A bicycle is not solely about ‘exercise’, but it is a serious tool for commuting and travel...”
Like many cyclists, Aquilina views her own bicycle much in the same way as a motorist would view his car.
“A bicycle is also a moving ‘vehicle’ which takes up a certain amount of space on the road,” she points out. “But unlike a motor vehicle, it does not have the same protection, visibility (eg, mirrors) and comfort of a car. The safety of cyclists is continuously threatened by motorists who fail to appreciate that a safe distance is necessary to both allow the cyclist to control and manoeuvre the bike, and to safely brake to a stop.”
Nor are motorists the only ones to blame. Aquilina points towards inadequate legislation as another factor.
“Current legislation does not provide rights to cyclists. By comparison, for example, in France motorist must keep a minimum safe distance of 1.5 metres (5 feet)... not to mention, of course, the amount of nice French bike signs reminding motorists to keep 1.5 metres away!”
Only in Malta Curiously enough, road rage directed towards cyclists appears to be an exclusively local phenomenon. In his eight years of cycling overseas, Joe Camilleri has never encountered the behaviour he experiences on Maltese roads on a regular basis.
“It may be pertinent to point out that I have never, ever come across one case where I was not treated courteously by motorists abroad. There appears to be a much more tolerant culture for cyclists abroad. Unfortunately, in Malta, I have come across too many cases where drivers, probably because of our general lack of tolerance to other road users (other vehicles included) or road rage in general, make life very dangerous for cyclists.”
Similar sentiments are expressed by virtually all who have experience cycling abroad. According to Karen Vella, the phenomenon cannot even be put down to a typical “Mediterranean machismo”, because the attitude does not appear to exist elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
“I have cycled in several countries where I have always been given due respect - even in places such as Sicily, renowned for its reckless drivers, I have always been given indisputable right of way.”
In some cases, however, the cause of the behaviour will have less to do with aggression than with simple immaturity. Cyclists such as John Farrugia point towards young and over-exuberant drivers as a possible hazard.
“What I have come across at times is young people being silly with their car, mostly when in a group. They either drive close to you and hoot blatantly when next to you, or scream to give you a fright. In fact, when I was training for Lifecycle in 2006 I used to cycle in the early hours of the morning and after a few experiences of Paceville and environs, I decided that it would be safer to avoid this area, and the Coast Road in general. Luckily I was using my Mountain Bike and could choose to cycle in less prominent roads...”
Ignorance is bliss Maltese cyclists will hardly be the first to observe that their counterparts at the wheel of a car tend to occasionally ignore traffic signs. However, they do have added cause for concern – unlike drivers and passengers in closed vehicles, cyclists can very easily be thrown off their bikes (with potentially fatal consequences) simply because a driver fails to obey a very basic traffic regulation.
“To add insult to injury, stop signs, give way signs and roundabouts are not heeded on a regular basis in Malta, and when you are on two wheels it becomes a bit of a Russian roulette,” Karen Vella explains. “Countless times have I had right of way and found speeding motorists in my path. Several training sessions have been done with heart in mouth, because unfortunately we are not respected on the road. The motorist has to keep in mind that sometimes we can’t just slam the brakes and stop, because that could very easily transform the cyclist into a human projectile! On two wheels we are extremely vulnerable and at times at the mercy of the motorist. We do not wear any protective gear bar the obligatory helmet, and a fall at a speed of 30km/hr could result in concussion, tarmac burn and broken bones.
In many cases, the root cause of the problem remains simple ignorance: ignorance of the law, but also ignorance of the basic dynamics of riding a bicycle.
“Some motorists are a danger because they have no idea of how vulnerable a cyclist is,” Joe Camilleri says. “A large vehicle overtaking a cyclist at some speed causes a huge amount of turbulence, and may cause the cyclist to lose control of the bike. Other vehicles don’t leave enough space – they may not realise that a cyclist, particularly on a road bike, might have to pull out slightly to avoid potholes, glass, stones, manholes and gratings which are not properly laid...”
However, Camilleri does concede that the dangerous few remain a minority... otherwise, cycling in Malta would be all but impossible.
“In general, I feel that most local motorists do take extra care when they come across a cyclist. But it sometimes appears that there is a common feeling amongst drivers that cyclists are somehow ‘extra’; that they should not be on the road...”
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