Excessive noise has become the norm

The two contributions to this paper made by Joe Morana (May 25) and by Anthony J. Saliba (May 28) regarding the excessive noise around us at all time of the year, day in day out, hit the nail on the head. Where indeed is the Noise Abatement Society? It has become the norm here in Malta that to exist, we have to make some sort of noise.

As the correspondents rightly stated, the list of malpractices employed to generate noise is endless. I will limit myself only to the traffic noise. In the old days, the various sellers roaming the streets of Malta had to yell at the top of their voices so as to attract customers and announce their arrival at that particular street. Has the bread seller today the need to hoot his electric horn at every corner to announce his arrival? Does not everybody in the area know that he always arrives at the same time, as does the gas deliveryman, and has been doing so for the past 20 years or so? Does not everybody know that, if by chance, one misses the opportunity to buy the bread from that particular van, one can trip over another dozen vans, doing the round, just across the road, not to mention the actual bakery shops?

It has also become the practice nowadays for drivers of cars to zoom along the narrow streets of towns and villages hooting their horn at every intersection, without reducing their speed, as if this gives them a God-given right to drive across without colliding with another vehicle or running over some poor pedestrian. This is especially true at Fgura, where the cars now want to evade going through the dreaded Hompesch Road at all costs because of the traffic congestion and drive at speed through Mater Boni Consigli Street on their way towards Żabbar. Traffic wardens would be better employed at stopping this dangerous practice than booking parking offenders.