Today was the last Sunday of our full training schedule and we took time out from the ride to join the first memorial ride for Cliff Micallef who was sadly killed in a hit and run accident a year ago while training for the 2009 LifeCycle Challenge.
Ask most tourists for their first impression of Malta and they will tell you "The people are amazing - kind, warm, caring and they can't do enough to help any visitor to their country. They have a real joy for life and family." Living here these past two years, I would echo that, and can't think of a safer place to bring up my family.
The second thing, however they'd say is "Bit of a hairy trip from the airport to the hotel though! Those roads and cars are a bit scary." I'd echo that too, with bells on. The roads are in a truly apalling state of repair - the only thing more apalling is the driving itself!
As we cycle the island day after day, we see horrendous examples of bad driving, really too numerous to mention, that would make any sane driver scream. And often they do. Last week, our group rounded a tight bend near Siggiewi and came across a car on its roof, front end crushed, totally blocking the road with the wall to its side totally destroyed. Amazingly the driver had got out alive, was visibly shaken and sitting on a wall waiting for the ambulance.
Not everyone hangs around waiting for the emergency services - as was the case in the accident that killed poor Cliff, and it's probably safe to assume alcohol or drugs are the reason why not.
But not everyone drives after a few too many. Just what else is it that turns so many of these warm, caring nationals into road-raging, oblivious lunatics when they get behind the wheel of a car? Of course, it's not everyone, but it's a big enough proportion that even my Maltese friends and colleagues agree with me. Almost without exception they express concern for their own safety on the roads, and tell me they wouldn't even consider cycling on the island because it's so dangerous.
When we talk about it, their theory is that an Englishman's home is his castle, and that the same is true for a Maltese and his car. It's his escape, his passport to freedom. When inside he refuses to be bound by any rule other than his own. When you hear it phrased like that it almost becomes a romantic notion - until you see the effect it has on the roads when 330,000 people share that approach.
These drivers clearly believe they are invincible once within the metal cocoon of a car. Super powers bestowed upon them render them untouchable by anyone - it's their "Box of Invincibility." But, as with all super powers, there is a fatal flaw. Just as Superman is rendered mortal by kryptonite, these guys are evidently wrong - illustrated by the number of road accidents, sometimes fatal, that occur here every year.
We see it so often, that it set me thinking just how things got so bad - surely they don't teach learners to drive like that - do they???
Picture the scene. It's another beautiful peaceful summer's morning at the driving test centre in Malta when all of a sudden a car screeches around the corner, clips the kerb and comes to a hard stop half-mounted on the pavement. Inside the car a driving test examiner, beads of sweat dripping off his face, grips the seat with white knuckles while the learner, who is taking his test yanks on the handbrake and looks expectantly over at the man sweating in the passenger seat.
The examiner eventually looks over at the learner, a man in his late twenties, and says: "That has got to be one of the worst driving experiences I've had in quite a while Mr Galea! I have to ask, how do you feel that it went?"
"Honestly I thought that was one of the best drives I've had Sir." came the swift, confident reply.
"Really? Well, ok, let's talk about that shall we? Can you start by telling me what you're thinking about when you get behind the wheel?"
"Well, I just get in and drive. I don't really think about much other than getting where I need to get to as quickly as I can."
"I see, what about other drivers on the road, do you think about them at all?"
"What about them? I don't see what they have to do with the way I drive - let them worry about their driving and I'll take care of mine!"
"Right, that's interesting. Shall we have a chat about a few of the events on the drive itself? Maybe you could tell me which side of the road you think you should be driving on?"
"Well obviously the left. Unless that's too slow, and then I'll use the other side - I know my business is more important than theirs so they'll get out of the way. Or maybe even create another "lane" on the left if there looks like there may be a gap to squeeze into."
"Interesting, thank you. And your thoughts on roundabouts, what are they for and who has right of way?"
"Easy! They're are a great place for me to park on - there's usually a space - so I can jump out and get cigarettes and beer from the shop on the corner. As for who has right of way - I guess that depends on whether I'm on the roundabout or not. If I am, then I do. If I'm waiting to get on to it, then I do."
"Ok, and traffic lights? I notice you jumped a light that had changed to red earlier."
"Sure, why not? The red light is only a suggestion to stop right?"
"And you also drove through the cycle lane all the way up the regional road?"
"Cycle lane, what's that?"
"You know the white line to the side of the road with the painted cycles inside it?"
"Oh!! I thought that was like something out of a crime scene where they draw a white line around the victim!"
"If you were right Mr Galea, there would be many many more white cycles painted on the road, don't you think?? And how do you think you dealt with the incident when you were driving at twice the speed limit, nearly hitting that car and he shouted at us?"
"Well, I think I gave as good as I got to be honest, don't you? I find raising my finger and shouting "**** your ******!" usually works for me."
"Let's move on to the car itself. Do you know what the horn is for?"
"Duh, of course! To hoot when I see a friend coming the other way - it let's everyone know I'm going to stop in the middle of the road for a chat. Oh, and it's brilliant for hooting at cyclists to get out of my way!"
"Well Mr Galea, It's my pleasure to tell you that you passed your driving test with flying colours! As soon as you get home you can take off your L plates, and rip up your copy of the highway code as you don't need it anymore. The road is yours to do with as you please."
Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? But I'm struggling to come up with a more logical reason for the driving we see and experience as cyclists. The feeling that we are either unseen or unwanted really makes us feel as if we are riding on "Wheels of Invisibility" out there - and lets be honest, just like scissors cut paper, the Box of Invincibility will always beat the Wheels of Invisibility.
The drivers in question consider it their civil right to behave in this way and won't even contemplate change - either ignorant, oblivious or un-caring of the risks they cause/run. And the friends and colleagues I mentioned earlier seem to look on in varying degrees of dismay and anger, but shrug their shoulders and say "Well, that's just the way they are, it's a Maltese thing, they'll never change."
That sounds saddening doesn't it, but today gave me hope that with so many people with a positive mindset, pushing for a change and improvement in the roads and standards of driving I came away more confident that things will improve - what a great lasting legacy for Cliff Micallef that will be.
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