They are getting tougher in Italy too. In the news this week:

Do you drive using your mobile phone? Suspended licence, for a period ranging from one month to three, even at the first violation.
"We are facing a real emergency, there is a whole generation that comes to driving with the habit of using a mobile phone since they were 11, 12 and continue to do so even at the wheel, without any caution." According to data from the highway police and the insurance association, the percentage of incidents caused by the use of smartphones grew in recent years, until it reached 20.1 percent of the total.

The emergency is, in fact, the people who use cellphones whilst driving. To call without bluetooth, to send and receive sms, to chat on WhatsApp, to browse the internet, even to make a selfie at the wheel and send it to friends. The agreement between the Transport and the Interior ministries speaks of a tightening of fines and penalties: today the fine is between 160 and 646 euros plus the 5 point deduction from the licence.

The deadly mix of speed and driving, however, raises the numbers again, so that Minister Graziano Delrio has come to speculate that "eighty percent of serious road accidents arise from the use of the mobile phone whilst driving." Nencini insists: "It is a growing phenomenon, we must act very quickly to choke it off."

Penalties will also be significantly increased for speeding heavy vehicles and the specific crime of "road homicide" will be introduced. Up until now fatal accidents involving alcohol, drugs, excessive speed or negligence have been treated under general laws to cover unintentional homicide.

Peter

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