Roundabouts and how best to use them
In neither the English nor the Maltese Highway Codes is it compulsory to approach and leave a roundabout in the most appropriate lane. It must, however, be noted that when candidates are being tested it is expected that they have been taught how to enter, and exit, a roundabout correctly.
I am pretty sure that if the learner driver is in the wrong lane, without good reason, he or she will fail the test as the local exam procedures get ever nearer to an internationally set standard. The following is the set procedure, as laid down in the Highway Code, with a useful introduction from the English code:
On approaching a roundabout, take notice and act on all the information available to you, including traffic signs, traffic lights and lane markings (it's obligatory to follow the lane markings if there are any, here in Malta).
Use mirrors - signal - manoeuvre at all stages. Decide as early as possible which exit you need to take. On test in Malta the examiner will normally tell you which exit to use as there are seldom any lane markings other than arrows (compulsory to follow).
Give an appropriate signal and time it so as not to confuse other road users. Get into the correct lane. Adjust your speed and position to fit in with traffic conditions. Be aware of the speed and position of all the traffic around you.
Give way to traffic on your right unless road markings indicate otherwise.
According to paragraph 222 of our Highway Code: "Where there are two lanes at the entrance to a roundabout, unless signs or road markings indicate otherwise:
"When turning left - approach in the left hand lane; keep to that lane in the roundabout.
"When going forward - approach in the left-hand lane; keep to that lane in the roundabout.
"If conditions dictate (for example, if the left-hand lane is blocked), approach in the right hand-lane; keep to that lane in the roundabout. If the roundabout itself is clear of other traffic, take the most convenient lane through the roundabout. Instructors, drivers and examiners please note.
"When turning right - approach in the right-hand lane; keep to that lane in the roundabout."
The next paragraph (223) reads: "Where there are more than two lanes at the entrance to a roundabout, unless signs or road markings indicate otherwise, use the clearest convenient lane on approach and through the roundabout suitable for the exit you intend to take."
Signals at roundabouts
Paragraph 225 reads:
"When turning left - use the left indicator on approach and through the roundabout. "When going forward - use the left turn indicator when passing the exit before the one to be taken.
"When turning right - use the right turn indicator on approach, and maintain this signal until passing the exit before the one to be taken. Then change to the left turn indicator." Another cause for concern is the inability of most of our drivers to use signals appropriately. Paragraph 192 reads: "Signals alert other road users, including pedestrians, of your intended actions."
And 193: "You should: Give clear signals in plenty of time, after establishing it is not misleading to signal at that time. Signal before changing course or direction, either to the left or right, stopping or moving off. Always check that they are cancelled after use."
In my time as an examiner, against official advice, I attempted to get examinees to give basic hand signals. I went down this road because of our Highway Code and the fact that the driving instructors' manuals say that a knowledge of hand signals is essential and they should be used.
If yours is the first vehicle in a queue to reach a pedestrian crossing where someone is waiting to cross, you should give the 'I am slowing down' signal; if you need to turn right at a tricky junction, you should reinforce your flashing indicators with a right hand signal.
In this case officialdom was wrong in discouraging the testing of hand signals because Appendix II in the Highway Code has this to say about hand and traffic light signals: "These signals should be given by motorcyclists, pedal cyclists and those in charge of animal-drawn vehicles. They may also be given by drivers of other motor vehicles, but in this latter case they are not compulsory unless the light signal is at the moment out of order."
Obviously flashers do fail, and at that point it is compulsory to give hand signals. So every confounded learner driver must know and be able to use hand signals, or be prepared to park the car and finish the journey by some other means.
Everyone must read every line in a paragraph in the Highway Code, and not assume things, for often the assumption will be wrong.
News flash: the Association of British Insurers is pushing for all new drivers to spend a year learning before they take a test. A good chance that we'll follow their lead, I opine.
Tailpiece
The state-of-the-art Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster brakes from 80 km/h to 0 in just 22.7 m on a good dry road. This means that the actual stopping distance from 80 km/h will be a fantastic 37.7 m, compared with the 53 m shown in both the British and Maltese Highway Codes. But please don't try and copy this over here in Malta, in your own car.
Court of Appeal confirms road accident ruling
Basically, the roads director was fined because road markings were incorrectly painted, and on a night when the road lights had failed a motorist was using the centre marking as a guide and drove into a centre strip.
For the past 11 years I have kept an almost constant barrage of words on the 'boil' to attempt to get councils and other entities to be more aware that road markings have to be correctly painted and, this month, I have photographed and highlight a couple of totally ineptly painted road markings in Mosta.
The continuous length of unbroken line in the town centre channelling vehicles into Eucharistic Congress Road should have been far shorter, with an extended broken 'tail' and direction arrows painted on the appropriate carriageways.
It is no longer an offence to cross a continuous line to get into a 'side road', but in this instance the 'side road' is actually the main road to Valletta and the road markings are entirely inappropriate.
An equally annoying painted junction has appeared in Triq il-Fortizza tal-Mosta where it is joined by the recently completed bypass, Vjal Il-Qalbiena Mostin.
Anything larger than a Punto illegally crosses the continuous lines because they have been so badly painted that most vehicles simply have insufficient 'lock' to be able to turn correctly. Hopefully, the new council will breathe new life into local traffic management and will apply to the ADT for permission to paint anything at all on the carriageway.
The Roads Minister states that 400 roads have been completed and that 450 more are being worked on. Does that mean a minimum of 850 new 'Sleeping Policemen'?
In neither the English nor the Maltese Highway Codes is it compulsory to approach and leave a roundabout in the most appropriate lane. It must, however, be noted that when candidates are being tested it is expected that they have been taught how to enter, and exit, a roundabout correctly.
I am pretty sure that if the learner driver is in the wrong lane, without good reason, he or she will fail the test as the local exam procedures get ever nearer to an internationally set standard. The following is the set procedure, as laid down in the Highway Code, with a useful introduction from the English code:
On approaching a roundabout, take notice and act on all the information available to you, including traffic signs, traffic lights and lane markings (it's obligatory to follow the lane markings if there are any, here in Malta).
Use mirrors - signal - manoeuvre at all stages. Decide as early as possible which exit you need to take. On test in Malta the examiner will normally tell you which exit to use as there are seldom any lane markings other than arrows (compulsory to follow).
Give an appropriate signal and time it so as not to confuse other road users. Get into the correct lane. Adjust your speed and position to fit in with traffic conditions. Be aware of the speed and position of all the traffic around you.
Give way to traffic on your right unless road markings indicate otherwise.
According to paragraph 222 of our Highway Code: "Where there are two lanes at the entrance to a roundabout, unless signs or road markings indicate otherwise:
"When turning left - approach in the left hand lane; keep to that lane in the roundabout.
"When going forward - approach in the left-hand lane; keep to that lane in the roundabout.
"If conditions dictate (for example, if the left-hand lane is blocked), approach in the right hand-lane; keep to that lane in the roundabout. If the roundabout itself is clear of other traffic, take the most convenient lane through the roundabout. Instructors, drivers and examiners please note.
"When turning right - approach in the right-hand lane; keep to that lane in the roundabout."
The next paragraph (223) reads: "Where there are more than two lanes at the entrance to a roundabout, unless signs or road markings indicate otherwise, use the clearest convenient lane on approach and through the roundabout suitable for the exit you intend to take."
Signals at roundabouts
Paragraph 225 reads:
"When turning left - use the left indicator on approach and through the roundabout. "When going forward - use the left turn indicator when passing the exit before the one to be taken.
"When turning right - use the right turn indicator on approach, and maintain this signal until passing the exit before the one to be taken. Then change to the left turn indicator." Another cause for concern is the inability of most of our drivers to use signals appropriately. Paragraph 192 reads: "Signals alert other road users, including pedestrians, of your intended actions."
And 193: "You should: Give clear signals in plenty of time, after establishing it is not misleading to signal at that time. Signal before changing course or direction, either to the left or right, stopping or moving off. Always check that they are cancelled after use."
In my time as an examiner, against official advice, I attempted to get examinees to give basic hand signals. I went down this road because of our Highway Code and the fact that the driving instructors' manuals say that a knowledge of hand signals is essential and they should be used.
If yours is the first vehicle in a queue to reach a pedestrian crossing where someone is waiting to cross, you should give the 'I am slowing down' signal; if you need to turn right at a tricky junction, you should reinforce your flashing indicators with a right hand signal.
In this case officialdom was wrong in discouraging the testing of hand signals because Appendix II in the Highway Code has this to say about hand and traffic light signals: "These signals should be given by motorcyclists, pedal cyclists and those in charge of animal-drawn vehicles. They may also be given by drivers of other motor vehicles, but in this latter case they are not compulsory unless the light signal is at the moment out of order."
Obviously flashers do fail, and at that point it is compulsory to give hand signals. So every confounded learner driver must know and be able to use hand signals, or be prepared to park the car and finish the journey by some other means.
Everyone must read every line in a paragraph in the Highway Code, and not assume things, for often the assumption will be wrong.
News flash: the Association of British Insurers is pushing for all new drivers to spend a year learning before they take a test. A good chance that we'll follow their lead, I opine.
Tailpiece
The state-of-the-art Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster brakes from 80 km/h to 0 in just 22.7 m on a good dry road. This means that the actual stopping distance from 80 km/h will be a fantastic 37.7 m, compared with the 53 m shown in both the British and Maltese Highway Codes. But please don't try and copy this over here in Malta, in your own car.
Court of Appeal confirms road accident ruling
Basically, the roads director was fined because road markings were incorrectly painted, and on a night when the road lights had failed a motorist was using the centre marking as a guide and drove into a centre strip.
For the past 11 years I have kept an almost constant barrage of words on the 'boil' to attempt to get councils and other entities to be more aware that road markings have to be correctly painted and, this month, I have photographed and highlight a couple of totally ineptly painted road markings in Mosta.
The continuous length of unbroken line in the town centre channelling vehicles into Eucharistic Congress Road should have been far shorter, with an extended broken 'tail' and direction arrows painted on the appropriate carriageways.
It is no longer an offence to cross a continuous line to get into a 'side road', but in this instance the 'side road' is actually the main road to Valletta and the road markings are entirely inappropriate.
An equally annoying painted junction has appeared in Triq il-Fortizza tal-Mosta where it is joined by the recently completed bypass, Vjal Il-Qalbiena Mostin.
Anything larger than a Punto illegally crosses the continuous lines because they have been so badly painted that most vehicles simply have insufficient 'lock' to be able to turn correctly. Hopefully, the new council will breathe new life into local traffic management and will apply to the ADT for permission to paint anything at all on the carriageway.
The Roads Minister states that 400 roads have been completed and that 450 more are being worked on. Does that mean a minimum of 850 new 'Sleeping Policemen'?