Rising Road Fatalities Highlight Urgent Need For Stronger Safety Enforcement

Dr Jonathan Joslin, an Emergency Medicine Consultant, has urged Parliament to introduce random roadside drug and alcohol testing as a crucial measure to reduce the increasing number of road deaths.

Following yet another fatal motorcycle accident early on Sunday morning, Dr Joslin emphasised that current police practices, which rely mainly on ‘reasonable suspicion’ testing, are insufficient to prevent such tragedies. “The problem is that before an incident occurs, the chances of being caught are minimal,” he said. “Usually, death or serious injury has to happen before the police take action.”

Dr Joslin highlighted successful examples from countries like Australia and Ireland, where random testing has led to a 20 to 36 per cent reduction in alcohol-related fatal crashes. Unlike suspicion-based testing, random checks serve as a strong deterrent, as every driver knows they can be stopped and tested at any time, regardless of behaviour.

He called on Parliament to grant police the powers to conduct both random and suspicion-based roadside tests. “Too many lives have already been lost. What are our Parliamentarians waiting for?” he asked.

#MaltaDaily