60 vehicles fail emissions testing following 16,340 SMS alerts

Transport Malta received 16,340 messages on its SMS Alert system in 2016 about vehicles emitting excessive emissions, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said in Parliament on Wednesday.

The minister, who was replying to questions put to him by opposition MP Ryan Callus, said that 368 vehicles had been tested following the alerts, with 60 failing to fall within the test parameters.

11,329 SMSs were submitted in 2014 and 13,235 in 2015, with 258  and 327 inspections carried out respectively. 34 vehicles failed the testing in 2014 while 37 vehicles did not pass emissions levels inspections in 2015.

Under the scheme, when the authority receives three or more SMSs from different mobile numbers about the same vehicle, the owner of the identified vehicle would be requested to take the car or truck in for testing.

If the vehicle fails the inspection for emissions levels, the owner would be fined and given some time to comply with standards before having to submit the vehicle for a further inspection. This continues until the vehicle is found to fall within accepted emissions levels standards.

If an owner fails to submit his vehicle for testing when requested, the vehicle license would not be able to be renewed until the vehicle undergoes the authority’s inspections successfully.