Reform of the Highway Code: new rules for cars, motorbikes and scooters underway
The bill on the reform of the Highway Code will be approved by the House of Representatives on Tuesday and then go to the Senate. New features include lowering the engine capacity limit for motorbikes on the motorway, tightening penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol, and making electric scooters compulsory with licence plates and insurance.
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Key points
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The first phase of the reform of the Road Code has essentially reached the finishing line: the Chamber of Deputies will approve on Tuesday the bill that amends various parts of the current text and delegates the government with a comprehensive reform (AC 1435-A). In addition to the changes originally planned (June 2023), there are above all the lowering to 120 cc of the engine capacity limit for motorbikes' access to motorways and main extra-urban roads, the OK for trailers towed by motorbikes, the redrawing of the power limits of motor vehicles that can be driven by those who have held a B licence for less than three years, the addition of vehicle confiscation to penalties for driving on the wrong side of the road on bends, speed bumps or crossroads, the direct liability of the vehicle owner for failure to provide Rc insurance when he leaves the vehicle in the disposal of others, and the possibility of establishing outside urban centresThe Ddl then goes to the Senate
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The Ddl will then pass to the Senate, but the practice established lately is one of de facto monocameralism. Therefore, it can be assumed that, barring second thoughts in connection with the European elections, the Ddl is likely to enter into force as it came out of the House.
Many changes
.The passage of the Ddl in Montecitorio changed it in many points, but not in the three that probably cause the most sensation: the controversial (see Il Sole 24 Ore of 19 September 2023) abolition of the requirement of the state of alteration to configure the crime of driving under the influence of drugs (only a positive test on the presence of substances in the body will suffice), the tightening of penalties for driving with a blood alcohol level above 0,8 g/l (obligation for two or three years to comply with zero alcohol and to drive only vehicles with an alcolock installed) and the 'short' suspension of the driving licence for those who have less than 20 points (seven days) or 10 (15 days) and commit certain offences (including the use of mobile phones while driving, failure to use seatbelts and car seats and driving the wrong way on the wrong side of the road) currently not punished with suspension or which only lead to suspension in the event of a repeat offence.
Measures for novice drivers
.Changes were made to the power limits for motor vehicles that can be driven by novice drivers with a B licence. The original text of the legislative decree introduced a tightening, raising the duration from one to three years after obtaining such a licence. In 'compensation', the amendments approved in the Chamber of Deputies added an increase in these limits: the maximum power is increased to 105 kW for all M1 vehicles (passenger transport vehicles with a total mass of up to 3.5 t) and 75 kW/tonne power/tonne tare ratio for all other vehicles, whereas currently the maximum power/tonne ratio is 55 kW/tonne (65 if the vehicle is electric or plug-in hybrid) and also, for M1 vehicles, 70 kW maximum power.
Multiple offence types at once
.The front of automatic controls is also articulated: in an extensive sense, it goes from the possibility of detecting more than one type of infringement at the same time with the same device to the extension of the cases of ascertainability by remote (with devices not manned by agents) and the sanctioning value given to video surveillance cameras for the most serious violations of motorway and main road regulations, if the images are viewed by an agent in real time or 'certified' by him within 24 hours. In a restrictive sense, the sanction for unauthorised circulation in a Ztl may not be more than one per day (but with the addition of any entrance fee) and on speed controls a Dm with new constraints is on the way (see Il Sole 24 Ore of 6 March).
