The standard joke about driving in Malta is that people here drive neither on the left nor on the right, but in the shade.
Does the joke still hold? Certainly, but driving in the middle is only one of the countless number of offences that have led to a near-total collapse of driving standards.
Millions of euros are being spent on the construction or extension of roads - albeit with work being done badly in several places while many roads remain in an abysmal state - but driving in most of the island’s roads has become a nightmare.
Even more irritating is that the problem does not even seem to worry the authorities, not even the police.
Yes, there are wardens here and there, but they are not effective in the way they should be. They concentrate more on collecting fines for bad parking - even when residents in crowded areas sometimes have little choice - than on correcting errant drivers or fining drivers on the spot for blatant offences.
True, the size of the island and the large number of cars on the road has created a problem that is hard to tackle, but tackled it must be if the driving situation is ever to get any better.
Traffic policemen seem to have hibernated - or are too busy rudely waving motorists out of the way just so the President or Prime Minister can get through - leaving the roads open to all sorts of offences.
There is almost a total lack of discipline on the road. Many drivers simply do not care to use their indicators. Drivers take telephone calls at will, slowing down traffic considerably. Others drive with their right arm dangling out of the window. Taxi drivers are a law unto themselves while too many have still not learnt how to use a roundabout.
Given this scenario, it is surprising the accident rate is not much higher.
When it comes to parking, the problem multiplies as, with the rapid rise in the number of cars on the road, parking space has markedly declined.
Double-parking, parking on yellow lines, or even in places where parking is illegal, are the most common offences and is where motorists end up being penalised because they are easy prey.
Yet many have simply given up going to some seaside resorts in summer because of the hard time they usually face in finding a place to park their car. Sliema, for instance, is clogged to the limit.
The authorities may point out that the answer to this is using publictransport. But it is not a practical alternative for everone and the bus service still leaves much to be desired. Arriva was supposed to have been the answer to Malta’s traffic problem. Well, that may still be its aim, but it has a long way to go before it meets people’s expectations.
It allvery well for the government and councils to create more open spaces for recreation, but serious attention now must be given to the creation of adequate car parks. Urgently needed, too, is a sustained public campaign aimed at promoting acceptable driving standards and, equally so, a concurrent drive at enforcing driving regulations.
It is high time that the driving situation is taken under some control. It is certainly not going to go away and, if anything, will get worse unless something is done.