Over the past weeks, master cyclist George Debono has been in touch regarding speed limits in urban areas and why pedestrians use the road rather than unsuitable pavements.
In fact, as a traffic management consultant, I have absolutely no objections if the maximum speed limit in urban streets is lowered to 30 km/h. Sadly however, it must be observed that few motorists, and fewer motorcyclists, take any notice of the current 35 km/h limit.
This is because local councils have found it impossible to enforce the speed limits, and local drivers are loath, like their worldwide counterparts, to obey regulations unless they agree with them.
A much more practical route to go down is the ‘Volvo way’, which entails the use of a pedestrian airbag mounted at the front of the car. This would then almost guarantee that motorists travelling through town at a responsible, yes responsible, speed would be moving sufficiently slowly as to minimise the damage done when striking a pedestrian. Don’t express shock and horror because in the real world, stupid and dangerous incidents will continue to occur.
Factually, in 59 years of motoring, I have struck no pedestrians, but have been hit while stationary, by a chap using the road rather than the pavement while reading a newspaper, who fell over the low bonnet of the X1/9, denting it but not himself. He apologised profusely and offered to pay for the damage.
Dr Debono provided many photographs of pedestrians walking in roadways where pavements were narrow or too undulating for elderly feet to cope with. There is a regulation that states that pavements must be of a certain width. We (the Traffic Control Board) always used to ensure that a double pushchair could use a pavement freely.
The chairman always ensured poles were not mounted on pavements in a way to stop pushchairs, and in the 1990s, life was considerably easier. Correctly-made pavements are a council requirement, and I would suggest residents get together petitions and see what their local council can do to make the pavements more user friendly.
Traffic calming techniques have also been suggested, but apart from rumble strips and road humps, which are ignored by drivers with softly-sprung suspensions, pinch points work well abroad and keep traffic moving slowly of necessity, in two-way roads.
Demanding that each driver should own no more than one car is a load of rubbish. Even if I own 100 or more vehicles I can only drive one at a time, so what is the saving in this bit of pure Communist thought.
It would actually make sense if, as has been suggested, heavy vehicles are kept off arterial roads at peak times, and that for me would include the obtrusive, slow-moving, double-deck sightseeing fraternity, who are particularly annoying when using the Coast Road at 35 to 40km/h. Horses, most obviously, should never be allowed on arterial, distributor, or very busy link roads.
I really think councils should try pulling on the same bit of rope before deciding where wardens should be let loose. One of the photographs above show Qala Road in St Paul’s Bay, where an enlightened mayor has allowed double-sided parking even though for part of the two-way road traffic, one vehicle has to stop to allow the other chap free movement. This road is busy whenever Qawra Road gets jammed up.
The other photo shows Jules Verne Street in Naxxar, an extraordinarily wide local council access road. Wardens have changed tactics from booking motorists parked by the white kerb marker to having residents and their friends booked for causing an obstruction.
In a recent case, it was suggested it was obvious obstruction because a couple of large lorries, cement mixers or similar may find it hard to pass cars on both sides of the road. As Jules Verne becomes narrow, one way and pretty tortuous as it enters urban Naxxar, this hypothetical argument is, with my consultants’ hat on, a load of cobblers.
• It is amazing how, at a time when there are 72,000 empty or partly-used housing units, permits for a series of 12-storey living spaces should be approved on the Mistra Ridge. Yes, Transport Malta, dust off the bypass plans and as quickly as possible, before any units are built, and ensure the approach road to Mistra will carry even less traffic than it does today.
• Continuing from last month, the agent wanted a massive €380 for an electric window mechanism for the family Ka. A genuine new part from a Ford parts importer cost €120. Possibly one reason why people buy second-hand cars from abroad is the fear of being fleeced.