Reference is made to the article by Daphne Caruana Galizia entitled The money-grubbers (TMID, 20 April).

In the last part of her article, your columnist made the unfounded assertion that there are “speed cameras going up in all kinds of absurd places, and the suspicion lingers that the local councils think of them not as safety measure but as a revenue collection exercise”.

ADT should like to point out that this sweeping statement is not backed up by the facts of the matter. As the regulating body responsible for speed camera site approval, the ADT assesses each application made by local councils according to site selection criteria – as defined in guidelines published by the UK Department for Transport in 2004. The criteria being applied by the ADT for core fixed camera sites include the following:

a) At least eight personal injury collisions over three years, including at least four people killed or seriously injured as a result of speed related road collisions;

b) At least 20 per cent of drivers exceeding the road design speed limit;

c) Loading and unloading of the camera can take place safely;

d) No other engineering solutions can be implemented in the short to medium term.

The approved fixed speed camera sites are all located on the arterial road network. These currently include Mdina Road (Zebbug), Mriehel Bypass, and Xemxija Hill with a further three fixed sites now having been approved by the ADT on Burmarrad Road, Coast Road near St Andrew’s and Notary Zarb Street, Attard. All of these approved sites conform to the listed site selection criteria.

The speed camera installation on the Regional Road is considered to be an “exceptional site” where the speed control to below 45kph was a stipulated requirement made by the German bridge expert, who was commissioned by ADT in 2004 to inspect and certify the structural stability and safety of the Manwel Dimech bridge.

This justification for speed reduction was well-publicised at the time, and one would have hoped that your columnist would have actually carried out some basic research on this subject before going to print.

Finally, we would like to point out that works on the e6 million EU co-financed project to reconstruct the Manwel Dimech Bridge are scheduled to commence later in the year. During the works, the speed cameras shall be permanently removed from the site and, on completion of the works, the normal speed limit shall be reinstated for this stretch of road.

Daniela Borg Mizzi

Manager

Public Relations

Malta Transport Authority