Regular ‘Motoring’ readers will remember that I provided photographic proof that vehicles could proceed through the pelican crossing in Mosta Road close by the football pitch and roundabout at the end of Independence Avenue at 60 km/h. I expressed shock and outrage.

Transport Malta wrote a pleasant little letter in reply saying that 60 km/h was quite OK and I had my facts wrong.

To date Customer Care has not sent me the correct version with approach speeds to pelican crossings.

A site visit with stopwatch established that it took less than three seconds from the time the traffic light turned red, before the pedestrian facility, with audible effects for the blind, turned green. This is a remarkably short period of time.

The Highway Code gives stopping distances for motorcars on a dry day travelling at 64 km/h, at 36 metres.

However, traffic management as taught to professionals looks at any problem, not in the best light, but as a worst case scenario, and this road does not have the benefit of a non-slip surface, as I found out recently when I turned the traction control off while test driving a decent, powerful modern car.

I would say that a 30-40-tonne, fully-laden truck thundering along at a legal 60 km/h in the wet may well take over 100 metres to stop, a somewhat unfortunate distance in the circumstances.

The normal, in-town speed limit is 50 km/h, and Independence Avenue, Mosta, is a wide, modern road, restricted by the then chairman of the Traffic Control Board to 40 km/h simply because of the number of pelican crossings provided for the convenience of foot travellers

In the 1990s police regulations still stated that the 50 km/h limit became mandatory as you approach any area where 100 or more people lived. By those rules, the crossing by Mosta football pitch would automatically fall under the 50 km/h limit and not 60 km/h.

Talking speed limits, Article 11.2.1 in my booklet states that speed limits depend greatly on the road classification andland use.

The recommended speed limits for specific road classification and land use are as follows: Arterial [Transport Malta road] with adequate street lighting, 80 km/h; Distributor [Transport Malta road] with adequate street lighting, 80 km/h; Transition between non-built-up area and urban area, 50 km/h; Local Access road [council responsibility] 35 km/h; Access Only [council responsibility] 20 km/h; Vicinity of schools/community facilities, 10 km/h; central business districts, 10 km/h.

Article 11.2.2 states that speed limits may be restricted to specific hours of the day only.

As will be seen, 60 km/h simply does not figure, and I rest my case until Transport Malta comes up with revised speed limits.

Another bone of discontent is a pelican crossing that suddenly appeared on the Żebbiegħ/Għajn Tuffieħa road near the mini roundabout at the end of Sir Harry Luke Street.

Transport Malta article 8.3.2 states that at roundabout junctions, zebra crossings may be sited at distances of five to 20 metres from the corners on each arm or beyond 60 metres from the roundabout.

This crossing is about 32 metres from the junction and is causing a few motorists approaching from Għajn Tuffieħa to lose sight of the fact that they must slow down and give way to traffic exiting from Sir Harry Luke Street.

Clarification

A sentence was missed out of an article on Mellieħa in last month’s Motoring issue. The sentence should have read: “When the bypass is reopened, traffic passing through it should be encouraged, apart from those confounded buses.

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