Last month I ended on a semi-positive note regarding the consultation document on Speed Management on Maltese Roads. The document states that Transport Malta, the body responsible for all things to do with the use of our roads, has stepped into line with Europe and decreed that there shall be a 10 per cent tolerance as we burst past speed/safety cameras.
Except that they then spoilt it by stating: “It is understood that not all joint committees and local tribunals have applied this advice in practice.”
My first reaction to that was: “Why on earth not?” Transport Malta is in an almost ‘divine’ position when it comes to transport. If they have decreed that there shall be 10 per cent tolerances, we expect to find just that, and appropriate action will most certainly be taken, right up to the EU, if motorists are so discriminated against.
Thousands of you will have approached Independence Avenue, Mosta, from the Lija end at the legal 60 km/h limit, and then braked hard for the nearby roundabout. Even I think this approach speed is a tad high especially as we have already discussed the pelican lights set up for people walking to the Mosta football pitch.
Imagine the shock, horror and general amazement of all Gozitans and visitors to that fair isle if the proposed maximum speed of 60 km/h on even the newest and straightest roads in Gozo comes into force.
I am of the opinion that speed limitation should be left as it is – generally 80 km/h outside built-up areas and 50 down to 30 km/h in urban sprawls.
The old Mellieħa bypass was restricted to 30 km/h because the German professor decreed that cars could slide off the side of the road. The car clubs then got permission to use the Mellieħa bypass hill for their hill climbs. The fastest cars were using this same road at well over 160 km/h, and guess what? No one fell off the road.
Do I personally think that if the speed limits are left at 80 there will be a dramatic, or even moderate rise in serious injuries and fatalities? No I don’t. People who want to drive at 80 will do so, but they will be driving in a pleasant mood, relaxed and concentrating on the road, not on the next speed limit sign, camera, police patrol, mobile phone or luncheon date.
Speed helps concentration, which for experienced drivers will always be at 100 per cent. Slower speeds on decent roads lull people into thinking of other things, hatred and road rage builds up, and all in all drivers are far more likely to do something regrettable.
In the old days our maximum speed on all non-urban roads was 65 km/h. Road surfaces were even more horrible than today and because hundreds of motorists refused to cow-tow to authority, weekend races took place at: Armier, Qrendi Air Strip, the road from Żejtun towards Hompesch Arch, the decent little hill on the Rabat/Mtaħleb road, Palm Beach Hill, an unfortunately dangerous venue, and, of course, the length of the Coast Road. Then as the British closed airfields, Ta’ Qali and Ħal Far were both used for magnificently illegal races. The police were hard pushed to work out where exactly the next venue would be.
Speed went up to 80km/h, permits were given for both rallies and a few hill climbs and the illegal use of our roads largely fell off.
Frankly I predict that if Transport Malta insists on the proposed lower limits, more and more illegal activities will reappear. After all, in the days of horses and sulkies carts and carriages, young bloods raced their way around the highways and byways just as they do today in cars.
Have the transport experts ever considered that the famous Automobile Association came into being to put scouts on the roads to warn of police traps? If a scout failed to salute a member he was asked why not, and a reason to drive slowly was given. Not because the cops were timing people round the next bend. That would be illegal.
Up until 1930 the maximum speed allowed in the UK was 20 mph (32 kph). Now you can use country lanes or single lane highways, irrespective of side roads and field exits at 60 mph (96 kph). That’s 10 mph (16 kph) faster than our three proposed fastest stretches.