To stop the massacres on the roads it is necessary to act on prevention and promote the 'culture of safety'.
The Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility, Galeazzo Bignami, is convinced of this, who, speaking at the #FORUMAutomotive underway in Milan, proposed a crackdown both for obtaining a driving license and for using scooters, including sharing scooters.
Speaking of future changes to the highway code, Bignami stressed that "the State cannot remain helpless" in the face of what is happening, and it is necessary to act right from access to mobility to limit, if not cancel, deaths due to poor safety culture.
"In Italy - he recalls - 10 hours of driving are sufficient to obtain a licence. We will have to bring them to at least 12 - he continues - bearing in mind that the European average is 20. It is also essential - he continues - to include tests on the perceived danger Many young people do not have the real idea of what can happen if they do not respect a red light or contravene elementary and fundamental traffic rules.
The deputy minister then recalled the establishment of a national observatory on road safety in Tuscany, after the one already present in Emilia Romagna.
"It is essential to understand the reasons that generate accidents. Many young people, for example, use their smartphone while driving, lowering their attention span and making themselves more exposed to accidents".
Another chapter is that of the introduction of the black box on vehicles.
"There is no national data processing center, it will have to be established."
As far as micromobility is concerned, then, Bignami reveals interlocutions with the companies that deal with sharing.
"The state has a duty to use the means in full safety.
And it is therefore necessary that those who make scooters available also make helmets and personal protective equipment available". The deputy minister does not hide that some resistance is being encountered, nevertheless he defines the dialogue as "profitable" and seems unwilling to back down, thanks also a painful personal experience. "I lived at home the loss of a loved one at a young age due to an accident - she reveals - and my family came out broken.
It's a pain that won't heal.
I want to avoid - he concludes - that this dramatic experience also affects others".
