Traffic Laws and Regulations
This domain tests the rules that decide who goes first, how fast you may go, and under what conditions you may drive. Malta drives on the left, and every priority rule in the exam follows from that.
Core rules
- Keep left; overtake on the right.
- Default speed limits: 50 km/h in built-up areas and 80 km/h outside them. A posted sign always overrides the default, and lower signed limits apply near schools, hospitals and in traffic-calmed zones.
- Seat belts are required for every occupant, and children must travel in an approved restraint suited to their size.
- Handheld phone use while driving is prohibited; hands-free equipment is acceptable only while you keep full control and attention.
- Drink-driving: the general limit is 0.5 g/L blood alcohol, with a lower 0.2 g/L threshold for novice and professional drivers.
- Junctions with no signs or lights: give way to traffic approaching from your right.
- Roundabouts: circulate clockwise and give way to traffic already on the roundabout, approaching from your right.
- Zebra crossings: give way to pedestrians on the crossing, and approach at a speed that lets you stop.
- Traffic lights: stop at the line on red and on amber, unless stopping would itself cause a collision.
- Provisional licence holders must display L plates and obey the accompanying-driver conditions of their licence.
Worked example
You are at an unsigned T-junction joining a wider road. A car approaches from your right and a cyclist from your left. Priority belongs to the car from the right, so you wait for it. You still check the cyclist before moving, because having priority never removes your duty to avoid a collision.
Traps
Treating the national limit as a target rather than a maximum; assuming a green light gives absolute right of way; overtaking on the approach to a pedestrian crossing; forgetting the lower drink limit that applies to novice drivers.