|
Karl Schembri
Not all traffic signs are legal and not all fines have to be paid, although if you have already paid them it is unlikely you will get your money back.
The Transport Authority (ADT) has confirmed to MaltaToday that some local councils have put up irregular traffic signs that are not approved by its Traffic Management Directorate, with wardens issuing illegal fines to otherwise unsuspecting contraveners.
The unauthorised signs around the islands include timed parking signposts, ‘residents only’ signs, illegal reserved parkings and restricted access to certain roads, MaltaToday has learnt.
Local wardens are promptly issuing fines to drivers who exceed time limits or park in reserved spaces, marked illegally by some councils, with most of the penalised drivers paying unwittingly.
Local tribunals are processing these irregular fines as if they were authorised unless the drivers contest the penalty by producing a letter from ADT stating that the signs were illegal in the first place.
The authorities are aware of the problem although they admit it is impossible to check every road sign put up in every street. Even when caught, some local councils refuse to remove them.
“When the authority notices or is informed of unapproved signs, the local council is contacted to remove them,” said ADT spokesman Daniela Borg Mizzi. “There have been instances where the local council refused to remove unapproved signs and these were then removed by the ADT at the expense of the local council.”
Floriana and Hamrun were among the councils that were found to have put up unauthorised signs in some of their roads.
“There are many instances where members of the public have contacted the Directorate to verify the status of signage,” Borg Mizzi said. “In the case when the contravention is to be contested, the public would need to write to the ADT since a written reply from our end would be needed to contest.”
A spokesman for the Minister of Home Affairs and Local Government, Tonio Borg, directed MaltaToday to the Director of Local Government when asked whether drivers who paid illegal funds are doomed to remain defrauded by the respective councils.
Director of Local Government, Natalino Attard, said that whenever his department was aware of such road signs, it informed ADT immediately.
“ADT has its inspectors to verify road signs,” Attard said. “If a traffic sign is illegal, the fine is illegal, but I am not authorised to give refunds. The respective councils would be responsible for that.”
The news will not comfort those who might have already paid illegal fines as it seems councils are not allowed to give refunds.
While Attard says drivers have the right to request councils to give them their money back, the President of the Association of Local Councils, Ian Micallef, says aggrieved drivers would have to take the council to court as local government is forbidden from reimbursing fines.
“Councils cannot give refunds for fines, the law precludes it specifically to eliminate pressure on council members from waiving fines, and we don’t want to end up stopping fair fines from being issued,” Micallef said. “So the driver would have to take legal action against the council. This abuse has been going on for quite a long time now although since we issued a circular against it most of the councils removed irregular signs or applied to get them approved, so I wouldn’t say abuse is widespread.”
|
