The Italian government is working on a new highway code to respond to the statistical increase in road accidents, focusing on scooters, announced Italian Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini on Tuesday (23 May).
The minister’s proposals include harsher drunk or drug driving penalties, speed limit changes, and road education for young people. Regarding scooters, new speed limits and compulsory number plates could be introduced.
“For those who use scooters: helmet, registration, insurance and good manners”, said Deputy Prime Minister and League (ID) leader Matteo Salvini.
“There were 3,120 deaths on Italian roads last year. This is impossible: we will work on a new highway code”, he announced.
Salvini’s statements come in the wake of the latest tragedy in Rome: a 24-year-old young man was run over and killed by a van while riding home on a scooter. This is the 58th victim since the beginning of the year.
The surge in e-scooter use started during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and within a year, the number of accidents quadrupled, often caused by driving too fast (36%).
From 2020 to 2021, according to the National Institute of Statistics (Istat), road accidents involving e-scooters rose from 564 to 2,101 and injuries from 518 to 1,980. Of these, 1,903 were drivers, 77 passengers and 127 pedestrians. In 2021, there were 10 victims, one of whom was a pedestrian.
The number of accidents with bikes (691 in 2021 compared to 240 in 2020) and fatalities (13 in 2021 compared to 6 in 2020) also tripled.
ISTAT data also show that in Italy, in 2021, only 13% of electric scooter users previously travelled by car. Before the advent of scooters, most users travelled on foot, by bicycle or public transport.
(Federica Pascale | EURACTIV.it)
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