I would like to comment on an accident we had a few weeks ago.

It was Saturday at around noon, when my husband and I went to pick some things up from a shop in Valletta situated in Republic Street. We parked the car in South Street, picked up the things and we were driving up the road towards Auberge de Castille.

Near Sir Paul Boffa's monument, a minivan was driving in front of us. All of a sudden we heard what sounded like an explosion and our car stopped. It had been struck from underneath and we were suffering from shock.

Passers-by were affected too, since many of them came to see if we needed any help. The car had been hit by a pole implanted in the road to prevent drivers other than the Park and Ride minivans and other authorised drivers from driving through on their way out of Valletta.

We didn't know about this pole, although there are signs further down the road that indicate no-entry.

We were very unfortunate because we didn't see the pole due to the minivan driving in front of us.

There should be a sign near the pole that explains the damage one might incur if one drives over it.

We were very unlucky since due to the sun and heat we hadn't seen the signs further down the road and when we drove through, the pole shot up and the car was badly damaged. We have had to pay Lm1,800 in repairs.

There were police officers over there who instead of telling us to stop, just ignored us.

We have heard of similar incidents in the same spot. No signs were installed after these accidents. This is a shame. We may be trying to improve things but I'm afraid we still lag far behind, since things are not being done the way they should be, i.e. by installing clearer signage.