Rules are there for all

Recently I read with interest that a manager at Arriva claimed the number of accidents involving Arriva buses was within acceptable limits.

The Arriva bus snapped off the wing mirror and badly dented the front wing of a parked car- Hugh Arnett

George Borg Olivier Street, Mellieħa, has become a no-go road, partly because of the increase in traffic following the closure of the bypass and partly because of the complete disregard shown by Arriva drivers for the legitimately parked cars so parked because their unfortunate owners need to shop in their hometown.

I received a message from one irate reader of these columns who had just witnessed an Arriva bus snap off the wing mirror and badly dent the front wing of a parked car, and although people were shouting at the driver, he simply ignored them and continued on his way.

If I need to get beyond Mellieħa I either use the well-surfaced country road that comes down to Popeye Village, or I go through Santa Maria Estate and join Triq Il-Marfa, the main road after using Triq l-Arznell.

Until I was forced into taking evasive action on a roundabout I refused to believe various Arriva drivers assumed right of way over traffic on a roundabout and obviously to the right of the driver. I will not believe Transport Malta or the Prime Minister’s little sub-committee on the new rights of passage conferred on Arriva drivers during various peak periods would assume they could alter international traffic law in favour of some ill-thought-out local scheme.

The Maltese along with the British drive on the left and so perforce have to give way to traffic already on a roundabout. That is, to theoncoming driver’s right. In exactly the same way as drivers who normally drive on the right in the rest of Europe must give way to traffic on their left on roundabouts.

It simply doesn’t matter whether the approaching vehicle is a small car, a great-articulated lorry, a cab and low loader or even an Arriva bus. The international regulation will, I think you’ll find, still apply.

Some time before we were accepted by the European Union I had a meeting with the German professor who was then the Director of Roads, to establish the international maximum speed allowed through traffic lights or pelican/ pedestrian lights, as it was not entirely clear in traffic regulations or the Highway Code. I had established with his help that 50 km/h was the maximum approach speed allowed.

Unfortunately Transport Malta has allowed traffic on Valletta Road between Mosta and the roundabout opposite Kind’s Showroom to approach the pelican crossings at 60 km/h. Frankly, this is a stupidly high speed, especially as a great number of youngsters use the pelican crossing adjacent to the football pitch and adjacent to the housing estate, for reasons all too obvious to parents and thinking adults.

Traffic management, once the use of signage and carriageway markings has been mastered, is largely a question of common sense; putting oneself metaphorically either in the driving seat or promenading down a sidewalk. It should then be apparent that the minimum number of signs that tell the story, along with sensibly painted carriageway markings would suffice to make better drivers, or pedestrians of us all. It is a job that demands experience, without the necessity of having a master’s degree in road technology.

Traffic management was a job that made great use of the teams’ people skills as Councils hoped for, and got, not only an affirmative to their requests but also detailed help if the request as it stood couldn’t be agreed to.

From my own experiences nowadays with the Local Councils that enlist my help it has become the norm either to not even get a confirmation from the overworked team at Transport Malta, or to receive letters of confirmation or refusal months after the request was made.

It must be noted that there have been a number of dreadful incidents at the end of 2011, quite possibly because the mix of alcohol and the excitement of driving too fast has got the better of the driving abilities of drivers.

Or, as new drivers have no clue as to how to control their vehicle when the road is slippery, and visibility is not perfect, there is nothing easier than falling off the black top.

This most certainly does not mean our maximum speed limit of 80 km/h is too fast for any competent driver.

The vast majority of drivers use no more than 60 km/h as their maximum speed. A great exception being Arriva bus drivers who can happily troll along in excess of 80 km/h if the road is clear of annoyingly slow moving traffic.