I am a very careful driver and I normally go out of my way to make sure I am not putting myself or others in danger. Yet, I have been fined by a warden once this year, and almost a second time recently.
In both cases, I am convinced that the warden and local councils concerned were not correct in targeting me.
The first incident happened in Kirkop, on the road leading from the airport towards the tunnels under the runway. I was meant to meet a friend at the airport, and so I parked on the side of the road, about 25 metres away from the bus stop (mine was the fourth car in the row of parked cars).
Imagine my surprise on returning to find a warden’s ticket for €23 under my wiper. There are no no-parking signs where I parked, nor are there any single or double yellow lines (as stated in the highway code).
The only hint that parking was not allowed was that the line dividing the dual carriageway (tunnels direction) from the side lane (which, incidentally, starts with a bus stop and tapers off before the tunnels about 100m down the road) was a solid white line. This is exactly the same as, for example, the solid white line marking the parking space on the road around St Paul’s Bay, near Xemxija Hill which is definitely a correct parking place.
The highway code states quite clearly that no-parking zones should be marked with a single or double yellow line, or the appropriate no parking/no stopping sign, none of which were in evidence here.
I sent my case to the appeals board, was turned down and paid the fine since I did not want to waste a day attending the Kirkop tribunal.
It happened again a few days ago; I went to San Ġwann and after about 15 minutes looking for somewhere to park found a legal parking space in Naxxar Road, about 100m from the post office on the opposite side. The parking sign staes 40 minutes parking except for residents of Naxxar Road, so I started the chronograph on my watch and went about my business – collected a parcel from the post office, and made a deposit at the bank.
On returning to my car, after having been away for 10 minutes, I found a warden hovering around it and preparing to add a fine. I asked him if he intended to fine me and he asked if I lived in San Ġwann (yes, but the car is registered in Sliema) and I asked why.
He said it is because I failed to display the time I had parked, to which I pointed out that the sign a few metres away did not specify this was necessary, it simply states 40 minutes’ parking except for residents.
Had there been a requirement to display the parking time, it should have been clearly indicated on the sign, which it most definitely wasn’t.
After a discussion with the warden he allowed me to drive off without fining me, but I went away in anger.
The councils may think that these traps for the unwary are a good source of income and that anyway careful drivers shouldn’t get fined too often and probably won’t feel the €23 charges. They are wrong, I work hard to make ends meet, and being fined on a whim is unfair.
While the councils ignore black spots where dangerous and illegal driving is the order of the day (the traffic lights junction between San Ġwann and St Julian’s come to mind) they choose to fine careful drivers over and over again.
The Kirkop tunnels road where I was fined must be major money spinner, the warden must be scanning every hour or so and fining the next batch of unwary drivers. Don’t the councils notice that if they are fining 50 or 60 drivers a day, in the same place, and for the same reason, there must be something wrong at their end?