Newly Setup Malta Road Safety Council’s work Endorsed by FIA

The Malta Road Safety Council in conjunction with the Transport Malta and Ministry for Transport & Infrastructure today organised a conference entitled “charting the route” to officially launch the recently setup Malta Road Safety Council. The council was specifically setup by the Ministry for Transport and Infrastructure and Transport Malta to bring together all stakeholders committed to road safety in the country.

Addressing the floor through a recorded video message, Mr Jean Todt, the Federation International d’Automobile (FIA) President and UN Envoy for Road Safety, endorsed the launching of the council and expressed his support to the work Malta has done to address road safety challenges. He referred to the last year’s setting up of a national road safety strategy and the setting of the council as important steps in the right direction. Mr Todt re-iterated both the FIA’s and his personal commitment towards the fight for road safety. In fact, the FIA has made Road Safety a key priority through the Action for Road Safety campaign, a marketing campaign which Transport Malta will be associating with.

The National Road Safety Council is made up of various stakeholders that include representative from the Ministry for Transport and Infrastructure, Transport Malta, Touring Club Malta,  Health Dept, Education Department, Malta Police Force, Malta Insurance Association, Intelligent Transport Systems Malta and the Civil Protection Department.

Other members include representatives from Malta Motorsport Federation, Motoring Schools Association, Local Councils Association, the Red Cross, KNDP, the Commissioner for Children, Two Wheeler Foundation, Bicycling Advocacy Group Malta/Malta Cycling Federation, Ghaqda Zwiemel u Kultura  and the Assocjazzjoni tal-Anzjani.

Transport Malta has appointed Mr Pierre Vella as the council’s executive manager. Mr Vella brings with him a wealth of experience from the motoring sector and in fact has been the local FIA Action for Road Safety advocate for the past three years.

Introducing the seminar, Chairman of Transport Malta, Mr James Piscopo, welcomed all members and stakeholders to the seminar and re-iterated Transport Malta’s commitment towards improving road safety in Malta for the benefit of all road users. “This seminar will certainly bring about constructive discussions and encourage the exchange of best practices. I am sure that by sharing of one’s experiences we can come up with positive solutions aimed at improving road safety in Malta,” concluded Mr Piscopo. 

The event also served as a good platform for the various council members and stakeholders to share their views on a topic that is very much on the forefront of Transport Malta’s agenda, namely road safety.

Addressing the conference Mr Joe Mizzi, the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, said “each loss of life is a matter of national policy for my Government. It highlights the urgent need to take all the necessary measures to address the fundamental cause of traffic accidents and hence, avoid more loss of lives. This conference is all about people getting together to address such an important issue. Whilst acknowledging that Malta has one of the lowest mortality figures, one definitely notes that road accidents are not decreasing. That is why I took personal attention to have this council set up and including the members that form part of this council.”

In his conclusion, Mr Mizzi encouraged all council members to strive to achieve the impossible as he believed that through the hard work and determination of the council members, working together to improve road safety, the council will certainly make a difference on the lives of many road users in Malta.