This article is not about parking tickets. Nor is it about speed cameras. The violators here are our glorious transport authorities, various councils, government departments and lesser bodies who repeatedly seem to be doing their best to ensure that our roads remain unsafe.

I was driving down Regional Road in the vicinity of the Kappara roundabout (tat-tankijiet for us oldies) when I saw quite a bit of water on the ground next to the roundabout. It was the run-off water from the watering of the roundabout. Nothing wrong with keeping the roundabout green – everything wrong about the potential skid created by the water. Who is responsible? The possibilities are legally endless, but, Transport Malta should ensure that our roads are safe. This road is unsafe at watering time and nothing has been done about it. This has been a problem for many years now. Will it take the death of someone to get something done? If the problem cannot be solved then bye-bye to the trees and flowers on the roundabout. Safety First!

Another constant in our roads are confusing traffic signs. Bugibba is a prime example of this. There are roads where the profusion of signs is such that in a two-metre stretch there are five signs – two of which just make no sense. Driving out from Għadira there is a sign indicating the way to B’Bugia. By our standards of size that would mean a sign in Rome pointing north and saying Paris! To be fair it might be helpful for some people who want to get to B’Bugia but then having reached the top of the hill there are no more signs indicating B’Bugia. So what now? Pity the poor tourist! The sign in Għadira should indicate Bugibba, where then we would find signs indicating Mosta, then B’Kara etc. etc. When you create confusion in the mind of the driver you create a potential traffic accident. There has been, over the past few years, a profusion of speed bumps also known as sleeping policemen. This is not necessarily a bad move but they need to be regulated as to size.

This week we read about Transport Malta being ordered to pay damages caused to a vehicle which had been driven into a pothole. Decisions of this kind are quite common in Court. Some time back I was on a TV program together with, amongst others, the CEO of Transport Malta. I voiced the opinion that our roads were in a disastrous state. He took offence, and incredulously stated that what I had said was an offence to the tax-paying public of Malta! Of course he has got it all wrong. The tax-paying public takes offence when it sees its money wasted, ill-spent and misused. One such example of misuse is the money spent in Court attempting to avoid the payment of such damages.

Transport Malta needs to get its act together in this regard. I know it is trying but more needs to be done. The accent of late seems to be on the construction of new roads. This is good, as are good the various traffic calming measures that are slowly being implemented. However, I feel that our top priority must be ensuring that all our roads are safe. Safe as to signage and as to surface.

Far too many of our road surfaces are a mess and accidents are being caused.