Editorial: Let the traffic flow, not go slow

As the sound of a siren gets louder and louder I manoeuvre my car to the side of the road to allow the ambulance driver to whizz past me and the rest of the traffic, my thoughts going to the patient and also the driver, who puts his life at risk to save other lives daily.

Unlike Arriva buses, ambulances have no dedicated lanes yet the consequence of not reaching their destination on time are far more serious than that of scheduled buses.

Yet, you still find the odd driver willing to take advantage of the situation to get out of the traffic by irresponsibly following the ambulance closely despite the high risk of causing an accident.

A reader of The Times recently wrote in to question whether an ambulance really needed to speed by with its sirens on. The same reader admitted to getting behind an ambulance and following it out of traffic. The contributor stated that, “the ambulance proceeded towards St Luke’s where it parked next to the physiotherapy department and, without much hurry, it stood there while a patient was helped to the mentioned department. Some 10 minutes later the ambulance left”.

I really fail to see anything wrong with that. The point of his lament baffles me and his conclusion that the ambulance should not have used the sirens to get through the Msida traffic is incomprehensible. Is it not important that every ambulance on service gets to its destination as quickly as possible so it is ready for the next emergency that could crop up at any time?

Another article that caught my eye recently was about a proposal to turn Sliema’s backstreets into go-slow areas. Is this a joke? Can traffic get any slower in Sliema?

The proposal calls for cobbled paths, trees or plants to be introduced to slow traffic. Are the towering cranes in every other road not deterring drivers enough to slow their speed? Are the potholes and the terrible state of some of the roads not deterrent enough?

Go-Slow areas are not needed in Sliema. What is needed is a better traffic management scheme which enables a better ‘faster’ flow of traffic in and around the place rather than plans to slow traffic down further.

The proposal as reported in the newspaper also states that “since these environment areas will be restricted to roads with little or no through-traffic there will be no obstruction to movement of cars... cars will merely be driven more carefully and at a slower speed”.

The reality is that roads with no through-traffic in Sliema are so few and far between that the proposed measures will not encourage people to get on their bicycles and ride to the supermarket.

The author of the report claims that the measures would cut down pollution by discouraging car use for short distances while promoting walking and cycling. Having an elderly population, I wonder whether this will in fact be the case and how driving slower would contribute to lesser pollution.

The report also calls for the imposition of a 30km/h speed limit along all of Tower Road and to introduce more traffic lights to slow traffic even further. What the author of the report wants here is for the cars to travel slower than the joggers or cyclists on the promenade.

Slowing down traffic will not solve traffic problems, but will only create more. We need solutions that would allow cars to safely go from one destination to another in the shortest possible time.

motoring@timesofmalta.com