A traffic accident occurred on one of the Kirkop ring roads on July 8 at about 8pm. A public bus carrying passengers to Żurrieq hit a food kiosk’s sun shade protruding onto the road.

The damage was minor, no one was injured and the bus could still run. However, the driver shut off the engine and all passengers were forced to get off and walk to their destination. Cars behind the bus had to turn back and find another route to continue on their way.

What was so frustrating was the fact that a policeman and a traffic warden happened to be right there. Yet, both did nothing to remedy the situation.

It seemed to me the driver was following standard procedure not to move the bus and stay put until the right authorities arrived on site to deal with the matter.

The result was that for about two hours the bus blocked the way and no traffic could go through, this at a time when the blocked lane was needed to ease traffic movement during a village feast. Such situations occur regularly. Why is it that, in today’s world, it should take two hours to deal with such a minor mishap? It is sheer waste of time and money, loss of business and mounting frustration.

The powers-that-be must come up with practical solutions.