Half measures rule the day

As Willie Nelson says: “On the road again.”

“Motorists will face more penalty points and increased fines for breaking the rules of the road as part of a plan to reduce traffic fatalities, the transport minister has confirmed” (Times of Malta, December 15).

Well, we seem to have settled on the new hot item of the month in Malta: traffic fines and points. Quite obviously, the government solution is not really a solution but a band-aid. Half measures still rule the day.

Those that believe in the obvious are screaming out: it’s the enforcement, stupid! What is it in Malta that keeps the government from enforcing laws? Any laws, unless you are a migrant, who steals a can of tuna fish. That’s a full discussion unto itself for another time.

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

As for how to penalise those that encroach the rules and regulations of the road, that is one that does have a solution. Again, I will head to the frozen north: Finland, for the solution. It would seem that the Finns totally rebuilt their country after WWII on how they do everything. Very egalitarian. No one individual is above someone else. It must have worked, too well according to some Finns. They are ranked as the happiest people in the world, for something like five years running.

One of their built-in beliefs is that everyone is treated equally, even when driving. Instead of setting a fine for a traffic violation in euros, they base each fine as a percentage of your income. You can imagine the headlines in the Finnish newspapers when a champion Finnish Formula One driver was caught speeding. And I do mean really speeding. His fine worked out to about €100,000. In Finland, everyone can go on to the taxman’s website and find out how much income a person makes each year. It’s their right.

We can make this system work here in Malta. While the present (and proposed) system is based on a price for each type of violation, it is not even for everyone. For many here, the fines are chump change. For others, it represents a lot of money. Level the driving field. Make each infraction worth a certain percentage of your income. That will do more to get peoples’ attention.

And, yes, I will say it again. Enforce all the laws, for everyone. Make all the ministers stand together live, before the people, and pledge to enforce all the laws.

Alan Zelt – Naxxar

What’s in a name?

Our own MEP in Strasbourg, Alfred Sant, has publicly described the group dealing with the European Union corruption scandal as “in house cabals”.

Back here in virgin Malta we refer to a similar cohort as a “kitchen cabinet”.

Victor Pisani – Santa Luċija