In an article in The Sunday Times Motoring (January 22), entitled ‘Car Torque Rules are there for all’, the author, Hugh Arnett, raises an interesting point about the maximum speed of vehicles allowed through traffic lights and pelican crossings.
However, his assertion that traffic regulations are not clear regarding thisissue and that 60km/h is a “stupidly” high speed for traffic approaching a pelican crossing is both incorrect and misleading for readers.
It may interest Mr Arnett to know that specific design standards for pedestrian crossings have been legally binding under Maltese law since 2003.
Maltese law requires that any person designing or building a road or carrying out maintenance or other work thereon shall comply with the ‘Design and Construction Standards for Road Works’.
The UK’s Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) contains the relevant standards to be used by highway and traffic engineers for the design of roads, bridges, junctions and crossings.
The DMRB was, in fact, adapted to national technical standards under the auspices of the same German professor being referred to in the article.
The design of pedestrian crossings is extensively covered by Local Transport Note 2/95, published by the UK Department for Transport.
This technical guidance prescribes the use of different pedestrian crossing types for different road conditions based on traffic speed, traffic volume, number of pedestrians and road geometry, among others.
As a strict rule, a zebra crossing should not be installed on roads where the 85th percentile speed of approaching traffic is less than 56km/h, whereas signal-controlled crossings should not be installed where the 85th percentile speed of approaching traffic is higher than 80km/h.
In this respect, use of signal-controlled crossings on roads that have posted speed limits of 60km/h, such as Valletta Road, Mosta, is in full conformity with the DMRB and Maltese law.
We would be more than pleased to provide Mr Arnett with a copy of Local Transport Note 2/95, so that he may become better informed on the subject, thus avoiding the promulgation of incorrect data to the public.
Victor Battistino
Senior manager, Customer Care and Media, Corporate Services Directorate.