“Safety first. Just raise cash” –

The reform of the Highway Code is proceeding apace, for which the Chamber completed its examination of the amendments today: in case the green light will be given, we will have to wait until Tuesday, when it will resume from the agenda. In the meantime, however, Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, in the Senate for question time, took the opportunity to already take stock of the situation, reiterating to critics that “as a parent, more than as a minister, safety is the first point for the government’s attention in the new highway code, but the ideology of ZTL zones at 30 per hour and speed cameras placed everywhere just to make money have nothing to do with road safety”. Salvini recalled, among the proposals contained in the Highway Code which is regarding to be approved in the Chamber, the short suspension of the driving license for a series of infringements, the compulsory helmet and insurance for scooters, the financing of 114 large municipalities for pedestrian programs.

“We thank Minister Salvini who following 14 years (and at least 3 ministers of the Democratic Party) has unblocked the ministerial decree which contains clear rules on the installation of veloxes with an agreement in the State-City Conference. These devices must really serve to prevent road accidents and Don’t turn into traps for motorists.” This is what the Lega deputies in the Transport Commission expressed themselves: Elena Maccanti, Andrea Dara, Domenico Furgiuele, Riccardo Augusto Marchetti and Erik Pretto. “We are at a historic turning point in the use of speed cameras. The approval by the State-city and local authorities Conference of the draft decree issued by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, in concert with the Ministry of the Interior, represents a milestone awaited for years on the regulation of the installation methods of speed detection devices. With this provision we can affirm, for the first time, a basic principle: speed cameras must never once more be used as ATMs, but to guarantee the safety of citizens” . The news was announced in a press release by the Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, Tullio Ferrante.

“The decree which has had the green light from the Municipalities and Provinces, and is now being signed by the competent ministers – adds Ferrante – implements the provisions on road safety of law 120 of 2010, approved during the last Berlusconi government, thus bringing a long battle which has seen Forza Italia and the entire centre-right constantly engaged is brought to completion. Thanks to this provision, the methods of use of speed cameras will have to respond to traffic safety needs, with the aim of preventing accidents and protecting citizens. To this end, speed cameras can only be used in the presence of a high level of accidents and the documented impossibility of being able to proceed with an immediate complaint, a minimum length of the road sections on which to install the devices, as well as a minimum distance between them , and of the identified speed limit which must not be more than 20 kilometers per hour lower than the general maximum speed for the specific road”.