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Kurt Sansone
The recently installed speed camera at Xemxija Hill in St Paul’s Bay seems to have met its Waterloo after unknown individuals smashed it between Friday and yesterday.
Over the past few days this newspaper received a number of complaints from motorists travelling up Xemxija Hill, who were blinded by the powerful flash emitted by the camera when it operates at night.
“I literally had to stop the car because I couldn’t see anything because of the flash. The camera itself is an accident hazard,” one motorist told MaltaToday.
The camera is supposed to detect over-speeding cars and has created quite a stir among residents in the northern part of the island who regularly travel along Xemxija Hill.
Similar cameras installed outside the Regional Road tunnels take photos of the rear number plate of cars that exceed the speed limit posing little risk of blinding motorists with their flash. The Xemxija camera, on the other hand, shoots photos of front number plates and at night the powerful flash emitted has blinded many an oncoming motorist.
Road experts talking to MaltaToday said that such cameras, utilising powerful white flashes at night may not be suitable for Malta’s narrow roads because of the risk of blinding oncoming motorists.
Questions sent to the Malta Transport Authority on Thursday about the hazard posed by the Xemxija Hill camera and whether the installation of speed cameras on our roads is being certified by the authority remained unanswered by the time of going to print.
kurt@newsworksld.com
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