Driving in Malta

driving in malta is an experience you will never forget
firstly malta has one of the highest number of traffic accidents in the whole of europe
this being because many drive recklessly , too fast  , using mobile phones , drinking, etc

there is no courtesy either , if they think they can make it out they will just drive and screw the consequences

tips to drive safely in malta DONT DRIVE

It's not that bad! Italy was worse in my experience, the key to success is keeping calm and if you get lost so be it...

However, in response to the OP:

1) They drive slightly (!) more madly than the UK for sure...

2) ... and road rules are there as a guidance note only, not to be enforced or obeyed...

3) ... which given the state of the roads and the general damage on cars would seem to suggest it isn't the best method, but hey they all seem fairly happy so go with the flow!

I drive as if I am about to have an accident and I make sure it won't be my fault. I follow the rules even though I am the only one doing so. It helps if you bone up on defensive driving techniques as well.

driving is hectic, when you come to a roundabout there is only one rule - NO RULES

but the thing the irritates me the most - why people don't put children in child car seats??? Surely, there must be a law that you must do that?!

I actually quite enjoy driving in malta, key is expect the unexpected. I've been a professional driver in the UK for years and I feel it's no worse than driving in London, except the skill level of the other drivers is no where near as good. The quality of driving is clearly poor, just watch a maltese couple trying to park their family hatchback, quite comical

Just keep ur eyes open, expect the unexpected and go with the flow..

I don't even think twice if someone comes the wrong way down a one way street anymore, accept the way it is and go with it people

I find drivers on average discourteous. They stick in the right lane like they own it...and using indicators here is rare. The police don't care about dangerous driving so they let people get away with and rules are very rarely enforced (unless you have the occasional parking fine). Just sit by a road one day and see how many people talk on their phones while driving.

Absolutely chaotic!

Let start from the roads. They are absolutely destroyed. Potholes everywhere, slippery and roads full of oil.
If you dont know your way around the signs misplaced, chaotic roads. Example there is no sign before the exit but right on the exit so you have to do round and round the roundabout to find your exit
Drivers: I really wonder how they are getting their drivers licence! Careless driving, closed mirrors, changing lanes at will, no respect of the others, aggressive driving, driving at night 99% drunk drivers, but at least they wear seat belts
Accidents: every day! Never in my life I have witnessed so many accidents. There is almost not a single day without an accident. I have to install a dashcam so that I can get on camera the highlights
And of course the "professional" drivers like Taxi/Bus/Truck drivers are the worse!

The bad thing is that there is no sign of improvement. Being here 3 years its getting worse every year

ok from what has been said it all sounds pretty grim....but to be honest i have driven in worse places....far east...italy ( rome and milan omg !!) and others....yes it can be a little scarey but keep your wits about you....undertaking is common as is just coming out in front of you...your greatest assett....anticipation...maltese drivers do no have it always always anticipate....dont expext to see an indicator used its very rare...however the use of your horn is mandatory for absolutly anything ....coming to a junction on my right...horn...coming to a junction on my left...horn ...seeing a car double parked ( so common) horn seeing a car turning right horn...in fact you name it sound your horn....no such thing as the two second rule ...if they can put their car in your boot they will....very rarely will someone say thank you for letting them out...roundabout rules...giving way to traffic on your right ....ha ha ha if you did you would never go anywhere...just force your way in....ok next roads....imagine if you will you have gone to africa on safari....thats the state of the roads...say no more....police...they are around...i think..never seen one in two years giving a ticket to anyone....fines are ridiculasly low..driving using mobile so common only warrants a 20 euro fine ( whereas parking in wrong place is 160 euro ) ignoring red traffic lights 20 euro no points on your licence for any offence....children ( 3yrs old) in front passenger seat no seat belt etc...exceedingly common especially while mother is driving and using her mobile phone going through red lights...yesterday evening for instance i saw a girl driving using her mobile phone however it was the boy behind her who was steering the car she was just using the accellerator !! must also mention pedestrians....dont expect to see them using the pavements a lot....its kind of a new thing i think pavements...so lots of them just walk on the road...yes with their pushchairs ...one other thing...if you are unfortunate to have an accident...if its a bumper to bumper accident and there are no injuries stay where you are and exchange details....if on the other hand its something else DO NOT under any circumstance move your car...doesnt matter if its blocking the road or now in a dangerous position....or what ever you MUST wait for traffic warden or police to attend...that could be a couple of hours...stay where you are otherwise it will be your fault and you will be fined for moving it .....as i said drive defensivly and use anticipation....you will have fun im sure...oh yes one last thing...dont be at all suprised if driving down a one way road you come across someone driving towards you...good time to sound your horn lol one final thing...there may well be Maltses people on this site....what generally happens is that if you say anything against Malta or its people and they dont like it or agree the first thing they say is "Go back where you come from" thats quite common...but this is my home now and i have gotten used to your roads and driving  ..if you think my observations are all wrong then by all means say so and dissagree and tell me they wrong and that everyone here is a perfect courteous driver

I was in UK for the past 34 yrs and have been driving there. I have no intention of driving in Malta
They are careless, speeding without any reason and no discipline. Even the bus drivers not all are good drivers.  The roads are not safe in my opinion. (  not including building works, cranes in operation by the roadside etc
Terry

Hi,

I think that most of us would agree that the driving habits of the Maltese are very bad.  Overtaking on blind curves, overtaking with on-coming traffic, running stop signs into on-coming traffic, driving way in excess of the speed limits, etc, etc.

This seems to be cultural thing related to southern Mediterranean people, maybe the driving south of Naples is worse.

The government needs to start an educational programme, maybe on TV, radio, billboards etc.   I do not see any other feasible way to change these bad habits.

Driving in Malta has it's own particularities.
You need to be good, to have eyes all over your head and to coordinate them damn well. I took driving here as a challenge, "let's see how good can I be". If you take it as a daily burden it will be one. But if you try to be 5 sec.faster in observation and reading reactions, till a certain point can be even fun. Harder to cope with the bickers that lately are grumbling all the timer and in all the ways that nobody respects them but they are reckless and pushy  and sometimes cyclist can be a pain. I think we need a bit of everything, no?
My biggest regret is the lack of reinforcement. I can understand why but soon enough 'THEY" won't understand why to keep on pretending that the speed cameras are enough.
Safe drive out there to you all.Jana

I think it is not quite as bad, first you must forget the driving of your home country as the culture is very different here. It may look crazy and is extremely dangerous for the pedestrians, motorcyclists and indeed all participants but I think a lot of the problem is from being too passive or even scared while on the road.

To avoid the risk of hesitation through fear the Maltese trick is to lay down a solid confidence layer, nothing crazy 4 or 5 pints of Cisk will do or maybe a couple of shots and you will be just fine.

Enjoy!

Traffic Violations Malta

HiTF5 wrote:

I think it is not quite as bad, the first thing you must forget the driving of your home country as the culture is very different here. It may look crazy and is indeed extremely dangerous for the pedestrians / motorcyclists and indeed all participants but I think a lot of the problem is from being too passive or even scared while on the road.

To avoid the risk of hesitation through fear the Maltese trick is to lay down a solid confidence layer, nothing crazy 4 or 5 pints of Cisk will do or maybe a couple of shots and you will be just fine.

Enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/778581235573370/

DO NOT EVER EVER DRINK AND DRIVE !!!

Hello

Well after making the trip from London to Malta a week ago by car
It's a lot less stressful driving in Malta than London and Italy / Sicily
A few issues on roundabouts but all in not too bad

HiTF5 wrote:

I think it is not quite as bad, first you must forget the driving of your home country as the culture is very different here. It may look crazy and is extremely dangerous for the pedestrians, motorcyclists and indeed all participants but I think a lot of the problem is from being too passive or even scared while on the road.

To avoid the risk of hesitation through fear the Maltese trick is to lay down a solid confidence layer, nothing crazy 4 or 5 pints of Cisk will do or maybe a couple of shots and you will be just fine.

Enjoy!

Traffic Violations Malta

DON'T USE SARCASM!!!!

i can definitely say Sicily was a nightmare,....

As a passenger it seemed much worse than when I actually got behind the wheel. You have to expect the worse, as it may well happen, and then you'll be ok. People pull out from every possible side street, and often don't look when on slip roads, but to me the worse thing is that everyone is on their mobile! In the UK we got fined if caught, but I've seen the Police and even bus drivers doing it and it really affects their driving! Just keep your wits about you and in some parts forget the rules from the UK, especially on roundabouts - its every man or woman for himself!

Driving in Malta is certainly an experience - even more so if you are female.  Maltese male drivers hate to think that a woman is in front of them and will lean on the horn if you stop for any reason.  I stopped at a stop sign yesterday clearly indicating left; a car was approaching from the right when the impatient male driver who had been tailgating me for the the last 5 minutes swung out around me and went left narrowly being hit by the oncoming car from the right.  When I caught up with him (it turned out he was going to the same place as I was) I asked him if his manner of driving made him feel better about himself as he was clearly trying to prove something? He then pretended he did not understand English and left his car parked in the middle of the street.  I carried on and told him what I thought of his driving but he laughed at me.  Need I say more?  I have been driving for 42 years and as my daughter says - the worse thing you can do on Maltese roads is hesitate - they will devour you if you do!

You are absolutely right: if you are a woman and you drive, you are trouble. I had episodes were I was told to go home and cook. Today I was overtaking a car stopped in the middle of the road and at half maneuver he decided to move off. I honk :  the horn he looked and made me sign to stay behind. I should say , maybe, I was lucky not to get his longest finger.    Maltese= no manners in any circumstances. Very sad.

You just have to look at the statistics and it backs up everything which has already been said -

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/vi … ter.579420

3,910 traffic accidents in 91 days equates to 43 ACCIDENTS A DAY on average.

Malta is a fairly small place, even if you have never been here you've probably seen it on Google Maps. It's about the same size as Liverpool or Edinburgh, population-wise. Imagine if there were 43 accidents every day in Liverpool or Edinburgh or Manchester, it would be headline news in the UK. There would be petitions, questions raised in Parliament, there would be a public outcry, here it's just normal.

I spent a couple of years driving in Mexico City immediately after I passed my driving test, that was an experience, one of the best free, natural laxatives currently available to man, but I still think Malta is the worst place I've ever driven. There's nowhere I swear more, if I had a swear-box in my car I would be officially bankrupt by now, what comes out of my mouth when I am driving at times would cause Gordon Ramsey to blush. I have never come across a more ignorant, selfish, arrogant, rude, self-centered, thoughtless, ill-mannered bunch of people than the Maltese when they get behind the wheel of a car, they are a bunch of pigs to drive with. I absolutely hate driving here.

Driving in Malta is not as bad as many people say. I do not think there is really a big difference to any big town with a lot of traffic. Said that the traffic is the problem. It is always hard to find a parking once you managed the traffic jam.

Driving in Malta is a very different experience, they do not use indicators, they do not wait their turn at junctions or roundabouts.You will also not find advance signs at junctions to enable you to be in the correct lane so plan your journey and have knowledge as to where you are going. Lane discipline is not very good and drivers there will undertake you so be aware what is on your left. Mobile phone use when driving is commonplace.
Overall maltese drivers are impatient and unpredictable so give them plenty of room.

In the last 3 years I made about 20.000km by scooter and motorcycle as well as about 10.000km by cars. Mainly in Malta, but also Sicily. So far I had 2 accidents, first time a car crashed from behind in my scooter and second time a car crashed from behind in my Land Rover.
After the first accident I spent half night in MDH but turns out that everything was OK, scooter was completely repaired on insurance expenses ... and second time my Landy only had a few scratches in it's solid metal bumper (Hammerite Satin Black will fix that  ) but the other party's car front was completly destroyed (note: never mess up with an old Land Rover  ).

I think I got used to the traffic here and after the "adaption period" I actually like to drive in Malta. I prefer to go on 2 wheels due to lack of parking and traffic jams. I know how people behave in roundabouts, coming out from side roads, using parking lots etc. and that a lot of drivers have no "feeling" for the vehicle and a lack of knowledge regarding the highway code, but that's OK for me, I can handle that.

I like to meet up on Sundays with other bikers on the well known locations and I like to attend on (classic) car events or to races in Ta'Qali or Hal Far. I get to know the "other drivers" outside of their vehicles 

Well, I can say that I love the "automotive lifestyle" in Malta 

After my accidents the behaviour of the other parties was quite fine, drivers, policemen, hospital staff, insurance ... everything went well.

"There is no bad road, just the wrong vehicle"