Anyone who drives drunk or under the influence of drugs risks losing their license for life: that’s what Matteo Salvini says. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport is preparing a revision of the Highway Code, which was officially drafted 30 years ago, and announces a 360-degree tightening that will not only affect retaliation for some violations, but also the possibility of fines adjusted to the income of the driver and thus increased for higher earners.
The topic of e-scooters is also discussed and stricter regulation is planned. The current situation sees road accidents as the first cause of death among young and novice drivers: According to the Dekra report on road safety, road accidents in the 18-24 age group still cause 64% of cases in the European Union today, the death of the driver or passenger next to him, compared to 44% in the general population. And the government is preparing to run for cover. “It is right to sanction irresponsible drivers and this weekend’s reports prove it. But it is clear that seven of you do not get in a car … You can do as much road safety education as you want, you can do all the prevention you want, but that seems to me to be objective”, the minister’s reflections in Referring to the very serious accident that happened in Alexandria, “If you knowingly drive while drunk or under the influence of drugs, causing accidents, deaths and injuries, suspending your license for a year or two is not enough,” Salvini explained, arguing that anyone who does so is “a bombshell and a potential murderer. In such cases, “I believe that life imprisonment can and should be considered.” If not life imprisonment, “but at least I consider the suspension of the driver’s license for 10 years to be untouchable”.
A possible revision of the fine mechanism is also planned. This was announced by Deputy Minister Galeazzo Bignami, explaining that “a specific study is also being carried out on the possibility of achieving proportionality between income and penalties”, with the possibility of increasing fines depending on economic availability. All of this will be addressed in the discussion on the road traffic regulations, the table of which, according to Salvini’s announcement, will be convened as early as next week. And this will therefore be an opportunity to consider introducing more restrictive rules for other modes of transport such as electric scooters or making breathalysers mandatory on board. We will “update the 30-year-old road traffic regulations,” the minister said. “It needs to be updated to new mobility, new technology, cell phone abuse that is distracting and a big problem, the need to also identify electric scooters because while there are problems with driving on four wheels, there is some connection between both extremely dangerous for both motorists and pedestrians”. Precisely for this reason, in his opinion, it is “absolutely necessary to have a permit to drive the scooter as well” and that those who use it wear a helmet, since they are now high Reaching speeds In Salvini’s priorities to ensure road safety, there is also “the mandatory disposable breathalyser on board”: according to the minister, in fact, “doing the self-test before driving to stop until time is up, I think it’s a sensible measure “.
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