New highway code, Salvini’s hard fist: “2,600 euro fine and license suspended for 3 months for anyone who chats while driving”
by Viola Giannoli
New highway code, Salvini’s hard fist: “2,600 euro fine and license suspended for 3 months for anyone who chats while driving”
Listening is reserved for subscribers

All measures of the decree approved by the Council of Ministers

SEPTEMBER 19, 2023 AT 09:19
4 MINUTE READ

The new highway code arrives which provides for a series of sanctions and little or no prevention: Matteo Salvini shows his muscles to “stop the Saturday night massacres”, 200 deaths on the roads since the beginning of the year. With a “clamp on wild speed cameras and a hard line for repeat offenders who don’t respect the rules”. The penalties for those who call or send messages from a mobile phone while behind the wheel are significantly increased: fines of up to 2600 for repeat offenders, suspended license and 10 points less. Fines for those who park in spaces reserved for disabled people or on buses are doubled. «Zero tolerance», says the minister, for those who get behind the wheel after drinking or taking drugs. And then news on scooters, cycle paths and new drivers.

But, says the lawyer Domenico Musicco, president of the association of victims of road and work accidents (Avisl onlus), commenting on the new rules: “The crackdown on alcohol and the use of mobile phones while driving is good. However, without an increase in checks and a true prevention policy, the rules risk remaining Manzonian cries and rules that will make the end of the points-based driving license and other reforms”.

The package received a new green light today from the Council of Ministers who had already dismissed it in June. But the measures were then examined by the Unified Conference which proposed a series of changes. Now only the parliamentary passage is missing: the decree will arrive in the chamber in October, MIT says.

Here’s what it involves:

Cell phones while driving
Anyone who calls or sends messages while behind the wheel will have to pay a higher fine: the fine goes from 165-660 euros to 422-1697 euros, with suspension of the driving license from fifteen days to two months from the first violation. In the event of a repeat offense within the two-year period, in addition to the additional sanction of suspension of the driving license from one to three months, already provided for by the code in force, the payment of a sum ranging from 644 to 2588 euros is envisaged, in addition to a deduction of points from the driving licence: 8 points for the first violation and 10 points for the second violation.

Speeding
At the request of the mayors, the administrative fine will be increased to 1,084 euros and the driving license will be suspended from 15 to 30 days in cases where the same person violates speed limits within the town center at least twice within a year. The license is also suspended for anyone caught driving against traffic or running a red light.

Speed Cameras
With a view to regulating the use of speed cameras, we are moving towards a stringent definition of the technical specifications of the devices and their positioning.

Driving while drunk or after taking drugs
Anyone found drunk while driving or “after taking drugs” risks having their license suspended for up to 3 years. For repeat offenders, it is forbidden to drink alcohol before getting behind the wheel: the permitted blood alcohol level limit it is lowered to 0 g/l, for all the others the limit is 0.5. As regards drugs, there will be no need to show oneself in a state of psycho-physical alteration, but the suspicion that they have been taken to cause take the immediate test: a positive result will result in the revocation of the license and suspension for up to three years.

Alcohol lock for repeat offenders
The “alcohol-lock” becomes mandatory for repeat offenders, a system that blocks the engine and prevents the car from starting if it shows a blood alcohol level above zero. The device must be installed in the car at your own expense.

“Life imprisonment for driving licence” for serious crimes
The new code also provides for the lifetime revocation of the license in the event of very serious crimes being committed while driving, for example for pirate drivers who flee after a road accident.

Parking in places reserved for disabled people
Higher fines also for those who stop or park in stalls dedicated to disabled people: for mopeds and two-wheeled motorbikes they are raised to 165-660 euros (now expected from 80 euros to 328 euros); for cars, vans and other vehicles at 330-990 (now expected between euro165 and euro660).

Stop at the bus stop
Heavier fines even if you park in the lanes reserved for buses and all means of local public transport: for mopeds and two-wheeled motorbikes between 87 and 328 euros (now between 41-168 euros) and between 165 and 660 euros for remaining vehicles (now between 87 and 344 euros).

New drivers
For new drivers, the compulsory driving period is three years before they can get behind the wheel of a large-displacement car. If a minor is caught driving without a license and drunk or on drugs, she will have to wait until she is 24 years of age to obtain a driving license.

On a scooter
Helmet is also mandatory for adults, both for private and shared scooters, license plates and insurance for all scooters. Anyone traveling without a permit or insurance will have to pay a fine between 100 and 400 euros. Prohibition on driving against traffic and on pavements, unless vehicles are driven by hand. Prohibition of wild parking and on sidewalks. And a ban on circulation in extra-urban areas: in this case the remote blocking for sharing vehicles is triggered and the managers will have to install automatic systems that prevent operation outside the areas of the city where the circulation of scooters is permitted. A fine of 200 to 800 euros will also apply to anyone who rides a scooter without indicators and brakes on both wheels. Penalties also apply to those who rig the engine by boosting it or for counterfeiting the owner’s data.

Remote assessments
It will also be possible to contest the violation of the obligation to give precedence to pedestrians and cyclists at crossings through remote checks; as well as the violation of the prohibition on stopping and reserved parking, only in cases where the spaces reserved for traffic police bodies, firefighters and emergency services, pink spaces and spaces reserved for disabled people, electric vehicles, loading/ unloading of goods and public transport services.

Cycle paths
Finally, the Joint Conference proposed to intervene with a regulation to expand the list of roads suitable for the creation of cycle paths. For cars, there is an obligation to maintain a distance of one and a half meters from bicycles when overtaking.