It’s the same old story, over and over again: England with an early exit from the World Cup; Italy involved in the usual controversies; Suarez wanting a bit(e) of the action; and I suffer yet another flat tyre.

The situation is really verging on the ridiculous and I am not sure which of the above is the most frustrating. Watching England get humiliated yet again is upsetting and exasperating enough but not as infuriating as having to watch the warning light flash on my dashboard indicating low pressure in one of the tyres... yet again.

I think I’d actually give up watching England win the World Cup in my lifetime to have our roads in a state fit for any car to drive on. The problem this time was not a common flat tyre but two cracked rims which needed repair.

Many tell me that my car is not suitable for Malta, but I find it unacceptable. Why should a sports coupe, with low-profile-run flat tyres not be fit for Malta? Why are our roads only fit for offroaders?

I cannot but emphasise the point made by Hugh Arnett in his Car Torque, ‘Dreadful state of our roads’ (page 16), mentioning in particular the contractors’ inability to place manhole covers that are levelled with the surrounding road surfaces. They tend to stick a few inches above the surface of the road, causing damage to tyres everytime they are driven over. And have you ever noticed how strategically placed they are, in a way that it makes it practically impossible to avoid them when driving.

The old joke used to go: whereas in the UK they drive on the left, and on the right in mainland Europe, in Malta we drive in the shade.

I think it is more like we zig zag, trying to avoid manholes, potholes, sleeping policemen, horses and the odd stray cat crossing the road.

I am no traffic expert like Hugh, but I’m curious to know the criteria Transport Malta and local councils use when deciding where and why to place a speed bump and to find out if any legal requirements or standard specifications and measurements followed.

Many speed bumps seem to be in the wrong place and are in a terrible state of repair. Some of these bumps are so ‘cleverly’ camouflaged and so exaggeratedly oversized that it makes it impossible for a driver to slow down in time, defeating their purpose as traffic-calming devices, thus rendering them even more lethal and dangerous.

The information I have is that standard speed bumps must not exceed 75-100mm in height over a distance of one metre. They also state that no traffic-calming measure shall have a vertical face exceeding 13mm. I can mention a few that definitely don’t conform to that. It would be interesting if readers were to send me pictures for publication of cases in point.

The unacceptable state of our roads is an embarrassment to Transport Malta or the minister responsible. A national plan needs to be put in place to lift our road infrastructure from third-world standard to first.

The Prime Minister was recently quoted as wanting Malta to be the Singapore or Dubai of Europe. I’m sure there are many sport coupes in these places. Dr Muscat ought to look at the highly-developed and well-maintained road and highway network in Singapore and the roads Dubai managed to build on the sand. No misaligned manholes or oversized speed bumps!

motoring@timesofmalta.com

www.facebook.com/TimesofMaltamotoring

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