Far too many newly qualified motorists will be unfamiliar with the 'art' of driving safely in wet and stormy conditions.
And yet, the successful application of the driving skills taught while learning to drive hardly prepare drivers for the hazardous conditions encountered.
Before the really foul weather strikes, it's nothing short of common sense by all vehicle owners to ensure that a basic service of the vehicle has been done. Tyres, brakes, lights - especially brake lights - and windscreen wipers must all be in top-notch condition.
It's vital for brake lights to work properly. Every day as I motor around, I encounter dozens of vehicles that have missing brake lights, and these rear lights provide that vital visual warning to avoid a front-to-back smash, even if you are driving at the correct distance behind the car in front (two seconds calculated by watching the vehicle ahead pass a fixed point and then by counting 100 and one, 102).
This safety distance, which must be at least doubled in the wet, will only help you avoid a smash if you are concentrating 100 per cent on your own driving, and your own brakes and tyres, including tyre pressures, are in safe condition and the driver ahead has at least one brake light that works.
For your long-term survival and to keep your vehicle intact it is vital to learn how to control a skid by turning the front wheels 'into the skid'. You have to ease off the accelerator till things normalise, and then either accelerate away or brake gently to avoid another skid.
The finer points of skid control differ from vehicle to vehicle, depending on whether the front, rear, or all four wheels are driving the car and each driver really should get onto a safe area like Ta' Qali runway in the wet and see how their car behaves, and how to control the ensuing skid.
Far too many motorists cannot change a wheel unaided, and resort to calling the tow firm. I decided, after owning the Ka for just over five years, that I would go through the motions of changing a wheel.
I now know why so many young people are not remotely interested in doing this routine job.
To establish just how to reach the release mechanism for the first time, I actually had to lie flat and peer under the rear bumper to work out what to push upwards to allow the spare wheel (unfortunately housed under the boot) to be lowered to road level.
I then realised that if the exercise was completed in the wet, even when I had mastered the release catch without climbing under the car, the whole job was so filthy that the replaced wheel would be dumped in the miniscule boot, with the boot cover removed. The jacking points were also quite difficult to locate as small notches had to be found, they being the only safe marker areas for the jack.
In other words, if you own a vehicle, establish how to change a wheel in daylight and make sure that you have purchased a wheel brace with an extending handle.
The objets d'art that manufacturers thoughtfully provide are of little or no use to any other than muscle builders, or motorists who carry very heavy hammers.
The Ka is, needless to say, no trickier and has no more hidden 'nasties' to find when wishing to change a wheel than most other non-luxury modern cars.
Recently, another rather nice car that a family member owns had completed its first 8,000 kilometres and I was reading through the owner's manual to find that oil had to be changed at a monumentally high mileage.
This makes no sense in a hot and very small country where stop-start motoring is the order of the day and the engine oil, even when modern and magical, takes an unbelievably harsh amount of punishment.
Luckily the workshop manager, a long-time friend whom I once navigated into victory on the second part of a very hard weekend of rallies was available and confirmed that between 8,000 to 10,000 kilometres or 12 months was a safe period to ensure a long-life engine.
The Ka, a slightly less refined and expensive vehicle, but very representative of contemporary vehicles has to be serviced every 10,000 kilometres or every 12 months, whichever comes sooner, and this seems to be a good time-scale for keeping a very hard-worked machine in good mechanical condition.
Never think it clever to save money when skimping anything to do with modern cars. Frankly, if you cannot afford to purchase and fully comprehensively insure a new, or nearly new vehicle, with at least Lm500 left over for unexpected electronic or even mechanical failures, it would be far better to go for a somewhat older and cheaper vehicle to maintain.
October's What Car? has offered buying advice covering 21 first cars for young people. These are cool, safe and affordable, and in reality cover cars from £800 to £7,500.
This article was entirely relevant to me as I have for some time wanted a professional take on what constitutes a safe car for the young and inexperienced among us.
The recommendations are, in themselves, fair on local suppliers because they cover a wide range of available models that can be purchased either new, or well and truly 'used' as the well-used Ford Ka which kicks off the list illustrates.
From the cheapest onwards, it would be safe to investigate these vehicles, starting with the 1996-1999 1.3-litre Ford Ka, the 1997-1999 Peugeot 306, 3-door 1.4 basic, or the 1997-1999 VW Polo 1.0, 3-door basic.
Follow on with the 1998-2000 Peugeot 206 1.1, 3-door basic followed by the Fiat Punto 1999-2001, 1.2, 3-door and the VW Lupo 1.0, 3-door, 1999-2001. Moving up a bracket, we have the 1999-2001 Toyota Yaris 1.0, 16-valve, 3-door heads the list, followed by the 1998-2001 Nissan Almera 1.5, 5-door and the 2001-2002 Renault Clio Authentique, 1.2, 3-door.
More expensive, but equally cool, the Fiat Panda Dynamic from 2003-2006 with its 1.2-litre engine heads the list, followed by the 2003-2006 Citroen C2 1.1-litre 3- door, and the 2001-2002 Ford Focus 1.4 LX, 5-door. Never despair. The 2003-2005 Ford Fiesta 1.25 LX, 3-door heads the next bracket with the 2002-2003 VW Golf 1.4 E, 5-door and 2004-2005 Renault Modus Authentique 5-door in close attendance.
The recommendations finish with three nearly new, or new cars, starting with the 2006 Renault Clio 1.2, 16v Expression 3-door, followed by the 2006-2007 Fiat Grande Punto 1.2, 3-door, and because of its higher resale value a new Toyota Aygo 1.0 litre 3-door.
This is virtually the same car as the Citroen C1 or Peugeot 107. Every car listed carries a 3 or higher NCAP crash rating, which is another reason for entrusting your inexperienced drivers into one of these decently safe passenger modules.
Traffic Management Unit is not 'off the hook'
TO ADD to the woes recently mentioned about the Naxxar/Salina Road, motorists travelling at night have, until the time of writing (October 3), also had to cope with a missing 'Go Left' sign on the San Pawl Tat-Targa hill, and a total lack of street furniture on the raised centre adjacent to the Gharghur turning with the Birguma Bypass.
Surely, all 'simple' signs have to be replaced within a couple of days of going missing at the latest, as they were in the days when the Traffic Control Board was respected, and acted upon with alacrity when necessary.
I have totally run out of patience with the ADT, and it is generally felt that next time round, either positions, or even names, have to be inscribed in stone.
All ADT staff are reminded that they owe efficiency and loyalty to the authority, and hence the country, above the loyalty they have on a personal level to any political party, MP, or minister.
There is no room in this small archipelago for partisan politics at work.
And yet, the successful application of the driving skills taught while learning to drive hardly prepare drivers for the hazardous conditions encountered.
Before the really foul weather strikes, it's nothing short of common sense by all vehicle owners to ensure that a basic service of the vehicle has been done. Tyres, brakes, lights - especially brake lights - and windscreen wipers must all be in top-notch condition.
It's vital for brake lights to work properly. Every day as I motor around, I encounter dozens of vehicles that have missing brake lights, and these rear lights provide that vital visual warning to avoid a front-to-back smash, even if you are driving at the correct distance behind the car in front (two seconds calculated by watching the vehicle ahead pass a fixed point and then by counting 100 and one, 102).
This safety distance, which must be at least doubled in the wet, will only help you avoid a smash if you are concentrating 100 per cent on your own driving, and your own brakes and tyres, including tyre pressures, are in safe condition and the driver ahead has at least one brake light that works.
For your long-term survival and to keep your vehicle intact it is vital to learn how to control a skid by turning the front wheels 'into the skid'. You have to ease off the accelerator till things normalise, and then either accelerate away or brake gently to avoid another skid.
The finer points of skid control differ from vehicle to vehicle, depending on whether the front, rear, or all four wheels are driving the car and each driver really should get onto a safe area like Ta' Qali runway in the wet and see how their car behaves, and how to control the ensuing skid.
Far too many motorists cannot change a wheel unaided, and resort to calling the tow firm. I decided, after owning the Ka for just over five years, that I would go through the motions of changing a wheel.
I now know why so many young people are not remotely interested in doing this routine job.
To establish just how to reach the release mechanism for the first time, I actually had to lie flat and peer under the rear bumper to work out what to push upwards to allow the spare wheel (unfortunately housed under the boot) to be lowered to road level.
I then realised that if the exercise was completed in the wet, even when I had mastered the release catch without climbing under the car, the whole job was so filthy that the replaced wheel would be dumped in the miniscule boot, with the boot cover removed. The jacking points were also quite difficult to locate as small notches had to be found, they being the only safe marker areas for the jack.
In other words, if you own a vehicle, establish how to change a wheel in daylight and make sure that you have purchased a wheel brace with an extending handle.
The objets d'art that manufacturers thoughtfully provide are of little or no use to any other than muscle builders, or motorists who carry very heavy hammers.
The Ka is, needless to say, no trickier and has no more hidden 'nasties' to find when wishing to change a wheel than most other non-luxury modern cars.
Recently, another rather nice car that a family member owns had completed its first 8,000 kilometres and I was reading through the owner's manual to find that oil had to be changed at a monumentally high mileage.
This makes no sense in a hot and very small country where stop-start motoring is the order of the day and the engine oil, even when modern and magical, takes an unbelievably harsh amount of punishment.
Luckily the workshop manager, a long-time friend whom I once navigated into victory on the second part of a very hard weekend of rallies was available and confirmed that between 8,000 to 10,000 kilometres or 12 months was a safe period to ensure a long-life engine.
The Ka, a slightly less refined and expensive vehicle, but very representative of contemporary vehicles has to be serviced every 10,000 kilometres or every 12 months, whichever comes sooner, and this seems to be a good time-scale for keeping a very hard-worked machine in good mechanical condition.
Never think it clever to save money when skimping anything to do with modern cars. Frankly, if you cannot afford to purchase and fully comprehensively insure a new, or nearly new vehicle, with at least Lm500 left over for unexpected electronic or even mechanical failures, it would be far better to go for a somewhat older and cheaper vehicle to maintain.
October's What Car? has offered buying advice covering 21 first cars for young people. These are cool, safe and affordable, and in reality cover cars from £800 to £7,500.
This article was entirely relevant to me as I have for some time wanted a professional take on what constitutes a safe car for the young and inexperienced among us.
The recommendations are, in themselves, fair on local suppliers because they cover a wide range of available models that can be purchased either new, or well and truly 'used' as the well-used Ford Ka which kicks off the list illustrates.
From the cheapest onwards, it would be safe to investigate these vehicles, starting with the 1996-1999 1.3-litre Ford Ka, the 1997-1999 Peugeot 306, 3-door 1.4 basic, or the 1997-1999 VW Polo 1.0, 3-door basic.
Follow on with the 1998-2000 Peugeot 206 1.1, 3-door basic followed by the Fiat Punto 1999-2001, 1.2, 3-door and the VW Lupo 1.0, 3-door, 1999-2001. Moving up a bracket, we have the 1999-2001 Toyota Yaris 1.0, 16-valve, 3-door heads the list, followed by the 1998-2001 Nissan Almera 1.5, 5-door and the 2001-2002 Renault Clio Authentique, 1.2, 3-door.
More expensive, but equally cool, the Fiat Panda Dynamic from 2003-2006 with its 1.2-litre engine heads the list, followed by the 2003-2006 Citroen C2 1.1-litre 3- door, and the 2001-2002 Ford Focus 1.4 LX, 5-door. Never despair. The 2003-2005 Ford Fiesta 1.25 LX, 3-door heads the next bracket with the 2002-2003 VW Golf 1.4 E, 5-door and 2004-2005 Renault Modus Authentique 5-door in close attendance.
The recommendations finish with three nearly new, or new cars, starting with the 2006 Renault Clio 1.2, 16v Expression 3-door, followed by the 2006-2007 Fiat Grande Punto 1.2, 3-door, and because of its higher resale value a new Toyota Aygo 1.0 litre 3-door.
This is virtually the same car as the Citroen C1 or Peugeot 107. Every car listed carries a 3 or higher NCAP crash rating, which is another reason for entrusting your inexperienced drivers into one of these decently safe passenger modules.
Traffic Management Unit is not 'off the hook'
TO ADD to the woes recently mentioned about the Naxxar/Salina Road, motorists travelling at night have, until the time of writing (October 3), also had to cope with a missing 'Go Left' sign on the San Pawl Tat-Targa hill, and a total lack of street furniture on the raised centre adjacent to the Gharghur turning with the Birguma Bypass.
Surely, all 'simple' signs have to be replaced within a couple of days of going missing at the latest, as they were in the days when the Traffic Control Board was respected, and acted upon with alacrity when necessary.
I have totally run out of patience with the ADT, and it is generally felt that next time round, either positions, or even names, have to be inscribed in stone.
All ADT staff are reminded that they owe efficiency and loyalty to the authority, and hence the country, above the loyalty they have on a personal level to any political party, MP, or minister.
There is no room in this small archipelago for partisan politics at work.