Road safety, because the reform of the highway code is ineffective and dangerous

The decree on road safety has sparked protests from associations dealing with sustainable mobility who take to the streets on 19 November, the World Day in Memory of the Victims of Road Violence.

In view of November 19th, World day in memory of the victims of road violence, we must stop and reflect on the problem of road safety which profoundly affects Italy, where only in 2022 deaths due to road collisions were 3,159, While 223,475 injured.We're talking about what it is the leading cause of death for young people under thirty and which sees growing numbers.In fact, last year, deaths increased nine percent compared to 2021.

The topic is hot also because in recent weeks the bill on road safety strongly supported by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini is following the approval process and the proposed measures raise the concern of those involved active mobility, fighting for a paradigm shift oriented towards more sustainable lifestyles and people-friendly cities, in contrast to the abuse of private cars.

Road safety bill, a "massacre" reform.Fiab's appeal to Parliament

The announced reform of the highway code has been defined as "massacre" from Fiab, the Italian environment and bicycle federation, in one open letter addressed to parliamentarians forwarded on the occasion of the World Day of Victims of Road Violence.From the bill, Fiab specifies, a coercive and sanctioning approach That ignores the scientific approach to the topic, which highlights gross errors and dangerous distortions.In fact, the use of muscular and pedal-assisted bicycles is discouraged, intermodality is not promoted and above all the excessive use of private cars in urban centers is not combated.Furthermore, the decree limits restricted traffic zones and speed cameras, important tools for controlling speed which, let us remember, is the leading cause of death in road collisions.

“In particular – we read in the letter – we must consider that victims have increased in all segments of road users compared to 2021, with the exception of cyclists (-7 percent) for whom mortality continues to decrease (-33 per cent). hundred in the last ten years, -50 percent in the last twenty) in the face of a strong increase in cycling mobility and demonstrating the principle safety in numbers, that is to say more people on bicycles, more safety for everyone“.

Furthermore, there is no reference to the introduction of cities 30, which takes us further and further away from the direction indicated by the scientific community and by the European directives which, let's not forget, have the aim of eliminating the number of road victims by 2050, with an intermediate stage which envisages halving the number of victims and serious injuries in 2030.

The letter concludes with an appeal to parliamentarians to take their part responsibility:“We ask Parliament to carry out the highest function for which it was elected by the citizens:decide.Setting aside category interests, party positions, electoral interests and with the sole objective of well-being of people.You are the public voice of everyone:make yourself heard."

Long live the streets, the demonstrations of November 19th

Demonstrations will take place on Sunday 19 November in various cities.TO Rome, Milan, Naples, Trento, Cagliari, Lecce, Modena, Alessandria hundreds of activists and associations they will mobilize at the same time to demand safer streets for people.
In particular, the most serious situation concerns Rome and the whole region Lazio.They are already in the Province of Rome 173 road traffic victims since the beginning of 2023.In the capital Rome alone there were 11,798 accidents on urban roads with 124 deaths (of which 35 were people on foot) and 14,590 injured.According to a recent Lumsa study (July 2023) three road accidents occur every hour in Rome.Throughout Lazio, 64 people on foot have already been hit and killed in 2023 and 13 people on bicycles.The trend is also frighteningly growing, the consolidated data in 2022 shows +33 deaths compared to the 2019 data.

The accompanying requests Long live the road are those listed below.

• On the new Highway Code under discussion:eliminate the rules that limit the space for active mobility and reduce the autonomy of Municipalities in determining urban mobility policies;allow and encourage the installation of speed cameras in urban areas to control speed limits.
• Promote the national law for the establishment of City 30 in all Italian cities, as was done by Spain in 2021.
• Provide pedestrian school streets in front of every Italian school.
• Restore economic resources for the design of urban cycling infrastructure, cut months ago by the Meloni Government, to make all roads safe for cycling users.
• Introduce the obligation to install the Isa (intelligent speed assistance) device, which limits car speed for all vehicles from 7 July 2024, extending its installation to all vehicles in circulation, not just new registrations, and prohibiting the possibility of deactivating the Isa by the driver.

The demonstration is strongly felt in Milan thanks to the group of citizens who united in the campaign City of people and is promoted throughout Italy by various associations including those that are part of the platform Città30immediato (Legambiente, Fiab, Asvis, Kyoto Club, Salvaiciclisti, Fondazione Michele Scarponi, Amodo, Clean Cities Campaign), Fridays for Future, Cittadini per l'Aria Onlus, Ecoattivi parents, Modena30, Pedestrians' rights movement, Naples pedals.