Traffic inconsistencies

I refer to David Soler's letter (August 16), in which he explained what probably happened when Adrian Buttigieg felt that he had been "singled our for a ticket" as stated in his letter of July 31.

I did accept his explanation, but it set me thinking of inconsitencies in this sector of road discipline. Mr Soler mentioned that all cars parked along the wall of the Villa Rosa Hotel in St George's Bay had been fined that evening - and rightly so, if they ignored a no-parking sign that forbids parking at certain hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.

But maybe he can explain why, one Friday night in June, exactly on the stroke of nine o'clock, when the parking ban comes into force, all the cars parked in that same spot were towed away instead of fined. After all, a towing fine costs much more than an ordinary parking ticket!

Maybe he can also explain why my sister-in-law got a parking ticket for being parked somewhere in Pembroke, when she has never been in that locality. Also, why my brother-in-law was fined for going down a one-way street in St Paul's Bay when that evening last summer, and at the time the alleged contravention took place, he happened to be at a bar in St George's Bay together with other members of his family who could have vouched for his presence.

Unfortunately, he is a resident of the UK and the van was hired, so he could not contest the imposition of the fine, as he had to pay the garage owner before he left Malta.

May I reinforce what I mentioned earlier, that I am in no way opposed to the imposition of traffic fines, which in fact I believe should be much stiffer than they are in order to deter potential offenders, but there should always be an element of consistency, as well as much more police/warden presence on the roads as I am sure that most contraventions go unpunished.

I am on the road for several hours each day, but I have still to see anybody being stopped for committing a traffic offence while on the road, even though I see several offences being carried out during each trip I make.

I would also like to point out that, unless traffic signs are perfectly in order, fines cannot be meted out because then it becomes a case of "the pot calling the kettle black". I am referring to temporary signs that were put up in Gzira during recent road works. I passed through there frequently during May and June this year, in order to observe the traffic signs. 'No entry' signs were shoddily painted and not of the usual size, leading drivers to think that some residents or children could have put the signs there themselves, as has happened in the past.

Moreover, there was a span of about two weeks when one followed the signs only to find that they reached a point of no return!

On reaching the back wall of the Gzira stadium, one was faced with 'no entry' signs indicating that one could not turn either left, or right. But on the stadium wall, there was a sign pointing right! The only way out of this muddle, without disobeying any signs, would have been to reverse (reversing for a distance of more than 50 metres is a contravention) and then reversing into the main road (reversing into a main road is also a contravention).

Other signs were also temporarily mounted on a concrete block on a street corner at the beginning of the road, but a large delivery truck that used to be parked there while loading merchandise often covered these. (I wonder if the owners of the truck were ever fined for parking on a street corner and obstructing traffic signs!)

I would like to know what Mr Soler (or his equals) would do in such situations. The only thing that they definitely should not do is fine confused drivers.