More than half the vehicles, mostly commercial, that were pulled to the side of the road in the past year for a technical inspection failed the roadworthiness test.

According to Transport Malta data, 1,178 vehicles failed out of the 2,209 roadside inspections carried out between June last year and June this year.

A total of 427 were slapped with a fine.

These technical inspections are intended to ensure owners maintain their vehicles in a roadworthy condition at all times.

Most of the inspections focused on commercial vehicles, as these were much more prone to major faults, but private vehicles with evident faults were also stopped and inspected, a spokeswoman said.

“Private vehicles noted to be emitting emissions or having other major faults are forwarded by Transport Malta staff to the Vehicle Inspectorate Unit, where they undergo a full inspection.”

The figures were requested by this newspaper in the wake of a parliamentary question that showed how only two of the 71 cars tested for excessive emissions in the first five months of this year failed the test when they were reported by text message.

These cars were inspected after they were reported at least three times by different numbers in three months.

In all, 4,583 SMS reports were received by Transport Malta by May, and these included multiple reports of the same vehicle.

The emission alert SMS number 5061 1899 was launched 10 years ago in August, so that drivers could report polluting vehicles to TM in a bid to reduce the notoriously bad emissions on the roads.

Emissions are caused by several factors, including having too much oil in the combustion chamber, worn spark plugs and diluted fuel.

When TM’s system detects three or more reports from different mobile numbers reporting the same vehicle registration number within a period of three months, the owner is notified in writing to submit his vehicle for an inspection.

If the vehicle fails the test, the owner is fined and given a second appointment for another test. The process repeats itself until the vehicle passes the test.

If a driver does not turn up for the first appointment, he is given a second one, and if he misses this appointment as well, a restriction is issued on the vehicle licence. The restriction is lifted only when the vehicle owner submits the vehicle for an inspection and the vehicle passes the test, the spokeswoman explained.

sarah.carabott@timesofmalta.com