The mother of a 27-year-old motorcyclist killed in a crash last July has filed a parliamentary petition calling for strict deadlines for magisterial inquiries into road fatalities.
Didi Krasteva is the mother of Tenyo Kosev, who was killed on July 26, 2025. He was riding his Honda motorcycle to his Paola home after a gym session when he collided with a BMW 1 Series driven by a 22-year-old man from St Paul’s Bay.
According to the family, the driver has neither been charged nor publicly named to date.
On February 19, Krasteva launched the parliamentary petition titled Reform of Traffic Laws for Reckless Driving Fatalities.
The petition had gathered more than 500 signatures by Wednesday and will close on April 24.
In the petition, Krasteva argued, “The absence of strict, legally mandated deadlines for the conclusion of magisterial inquiries into road fatalities often leaves families in a state of emotional and legal ‘limbo’ for years, delaying the start of criminal proceedings and the serving of justice.”
She suggests a maximum timeframe of six months for the conclusion of magisterial inquiries into road deaths. This, she argues, would ensure that families are “not left without answers for years”.
Krasteva is also calling for an amendment to the law to ensure that suspended sentences are no longer an option for drivers found guilty of causing death through gross negligence, reckless speeding or dangerous manoeuvres, whether or not they were sober.
She would also like to see the introduction of an administrative mechanism for the immediate and mandatory suspension of a driving licence as soon as an individual is charged in connection with a fatal road accident.
She argues that police should have the authority to detain drivers for an unspecified period immediately after a fatal collision where there is evidence of grossly reckless behaviour.
Krasteva launched the petition because she believes the current Traffic Regulation Ordinance (Cap. 65) contains gaps that deny justice to victims of fatal road collisions and their families.
Speaking to Times of Malta last year about her experience of the justice system following her son’s death, Krasteva said the wait for progress in the case had been deeply distressing.
“It feels like we are the criminals – not whoever killed my son. Waiting for so long with such few updates feels like we are being punished for my son’s death,” she had said.
On Tuesday, parliament unanimously approved legal amendments allowing random roadside drink and drug testing.
The amendments also introduce prison sentences for drivers found guilty of killing someone, even involuntarily, while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The possibility of a suspended sentence has been removed.
Krasteva believes similar penalties should also apply to drivers who cause fatal crashes through reckless behaviour, even if they are sober.
The changes will also allow police to carry out random roadside drink and drug testing without the need for reasonable suspicion or a court order.
