San Andrea School Parents

Hi Tim,

I'm really sorry for C.. It is just so typical of the Maltese driving mentallity. Put them in a car and it turns into road rage.

Say hi from us.

I'm in Germany at the moment and will get back to you after the 24 th May to see about coming up to your new place.

Cheers
Ricky

Thanks Ricky. Enjoy Germany (where they really know how to drive!) and yes, we'd love to have you up to Xemxija after you get back.

Maltese driving really needs it's own thread. My wife does most of the driving for us as we only have the one car and she has to do the school runs etc so she does A LOT of driving and sees a lot of crazy things. She is a good driver and has been driving in the US and UK for 25 years and had one previous accident in all that time (about 15 years ago) - she's been driving here for 18 months and had 2 already, both times she's been rear-ended and declared not at fault, but more than that there are so many near-misses caused by reckless, bad or just lazy driving on the other driver's part...it's astonishing and depressing because it really makes us belive it is just a matter of time before we have another accident and worse maybe a serious one. On Saturday morning we drove from Xemxija to Mater Dei and then home again - and there were no less than 5 times that she had to make some kind of emergency maneuver to avoid collisions, 3 of those were us on a roundabout and the other driver just entering the roundabout without yielding (or even looking it seemed to us). We stated to think our car was fitted with a Romulan Cloaking Device making us invisible! We see cars overtaking on blind bends and hills all the time - they have no sense of self-preservation it seems to me...trouble is in that kind of situation there will likely be other innocent victims too.

Sorry - just need to vent today....it's an "I hate Malta" day (week/month)

And please, no rebuttals from people that have been here for 5 minutes or spent a weeks holiday here, we've lived here for 18 months - and had open minds when we arrived and found it new, exciting and different for the first few months, but gradually over-time we have been worn down by the day-to-day issues of living here

Tim

Oh great, i'll give my hubby a week before he nuts someone then!  He's a qualified driving instructor (not his current profession at the mo tho) and he hates lazy, rude, arrogant drivers! He gets so frustrated here in the uk so yeah i reckon i should buy a large soap box for him to rant from! Hope your wife is ok, you'll have to teach her the two finger scratch your cheek response! The kind we did when we was kids so our parents couldn't see ha ha.
Amanda x

Hi Amanda,

She's American, so she only needs 1 finger

What's amazing is that I have never seen so many driving school cars as I see here - goodness know what they are actually teaching them.

Tim

"What's amazing is that I have never seen so many driving school cars as I see here - goodness know what they are actually teaching them" - thats not the problem - those taught by an instructor are probably OK - the problem is most Maltese have a driving licence from pre-EU (90% of drivers ??) when driving test standards were minimal. If you take a test now, its as hard as taking one in the UK.

The standard of driving in Malta is far worse than in Gozo

Well i think i will be ok, i grew up in a not so great area and learned the good old fashioned verbal F OFF!

I take it there are far, far too many cars for such a small island!  Also as the cars are so expensive you'd think they would be so much more careful when driving.

Amanda x

I am also a San Andrea School parent and I hate driving my daughter to school when I need to. The traffic is chaos there.
And about the driving schools... Do the people who are teaching driving know how to drive? No, I don't think so...

i know!  Dont you all have work to do everyone seems to be on line!

Amanda x

I have nothing to do except the housework

I think it is surreal.  I feel like I am living in the adult version of Wacky Races when I'm driving.
x

I sit with my eyes closed or read a book when my husband is driving. Otherwise I worry that I am going to have a heart attack! Having spent lots of time in Italy I thought the italians were the most dangerous drivers. After just a few days of living in Malta I changed my mind!! No disrespects, just my honest opinion- Maltese people drive like lunatics with no regard whatsoever for anyone else! That includes mothers with prams trying to cross the road!! I have had near misses several times when out with my daughter. I avoid driving at all times, unless I am pre-menstrual, then I am almost on the same level of attitude and psychosis as the other people driving!

Damsel wrote:

I avoid driving at all times, unless I am pre-menstrual, then I am almost on the same level of attitude and psychosis as the other people driving!

Waoooowww You're super....