The police have been instructed to pull aside and even prosecute people hooting and causing mayhem in football carcades, particularly after 11 p.m., and those hanging out of car windows.
"We shall put our foot down this time. I wouldn't say we're adopting a zero tolerance approach but we will certainly enforce the law. Strictly speaking, the use of horns is banned after 11 p.m. but there is also a provision banning its use for no reason. We will enforce both but, particularly, the night-time curfew," Assistant Police Commissioner Josie Brincat said yesterday.
The warning comes as football fans the world over gear up for the South Africa World Cup, which kicks off at 4p.m. today, paving the way for a month of constant football.
For many, the spectacle is equal to a month of joy, sadness and mad passion but also unruly carcades, coloured by the excesses of people hanging out of car windows or the backs of trucks, waving flags and taunting losers in a frenzy.
The police are however determined to knock some sense into such revelry.
Mr Brincat said junk cars often used for carcades were illegal and would be seized on the spot. Similarly, squibs (suffarelli) are also illegal and would not be allowed.
"We are not against having an enjoyable atmosphere with people being merry but what we don't want is people going overboard with their celebrations. People have to understand, especially at night, that there are people who would want to rest and these must be respected," he said.
The move comes after the Sliema Residents Association anticipated the World Cup's mayhem and called on the police to take action to protect residents' right to peace and safety.
Many fans lashed out at the "slimiżi" behind the association, defending carcading as a local tradition, almost like South Africans defended the use of the noisy vuvuzelas, a traditional South African horn, at the World Cup games.
Defended by Fifa president Sepp Blatter as a symbol of African culture, which cannot be banned from stadiums, European television companies and various footballers complained that the vuvuzela could distract the game.
In Malta, however, carcades received no such official sympathy, especially because they are illegal.
Mr Brincat said the police would also enforce other aspects of the law regulating the use of vehicles. Drink driving is high on the agenda and defaulters will be detained on the spot and taken to the police headquarters in Floriana for a breathalyser test.
Mr Brincat also pointed out that flags could not cover the front or back windscreens and passengers were prohibited from hanging out or sit on the car's roof or bonnet. Revellers could not sit at the edge of vans with their legs hanging out either.
He warned that, in these cases, the police would take one's particulars and follow-up with court action.
Moreover, the police will not allow streets to be closed because of spontaneous celebrations. He said traffic and district police would be on the road to ensure a smooth traffic flow, especially in prominent hot-spots such as Marsascala, Buġibba, the Sliema promenade and Spinola Bay in St Julians, as well as outside venues being set up to stream World Cup matches.
The first big matches, apart from tonight's games between South Africa and Mexico and France versus Uruguay, will be England's match against the US tomorrow and Germany's game against Australia on Sunday. Italy play Paraguay on Monday.