Mobility and Safety, with Abc the road becomes school

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor)- Mobility and safety. This is the starting point for Abc -Autostrada del Brennero in Città, the road safety education project of Autostrada del Brennero and Polizia Stradale launched in 2014. The aim of "Abc" is in fact to propose to young people from secondary schools in the provinces crossed by the A22 (Bolzano, Trento, Verona, Mantua, Reggio Emilia and Modena) an educational package specifically dedicated to the correct behaviour to adopt on the motorway, starting from the experience of "Icaro", which deals with road safety education in all its forms, from crossing the road for the youngest children to driving a motor vehicle. The objectives are therefore to bring young people closer to the Road Code, to give students about to take their licence the tools for a correct assessment of risk and to promote correct and responsible behaviour when travelling on the motorway.

At the beginning of March, the twelfth edition of the educational project began, which, being itinerant, saw the involvement of over 1,700 students from the province of Reggio Emilia. The day opened with a training session at the Ariosto Theatre, followed by a 'safety village' in Piazza della Vittoria, where the students were able to meet directly with operators and emergency vehicles, take part in practical demonstrations, and watch a simulation of a road accident, understanding the coordinated role of all those involved in emergency operations. Numerous institutional and operational partners contributed to the realisation of the initiative, including the Fire Brigade, ACI, 118, Red Cross, Green Cross, Civil Defence and Local Police, together with Autostrada del Brennero and the Traffic Police. The initiative will continue in the coming weeks in other cities crossed by the A22 motorway: Asola (Province of Mantua), Bolzano, Castelfranco Emilia (Modena), Rovereto (Trentino Alto Adige) and Verona. During the 100 minutes of theory, the trainers provided advice and information to the students (from how to correctly use an emergency lay-by to what to do in the event of a vehicle breakdown) accompanied by videos containing testimonies or accidents. In this way, the male and female students were able to learn from the stories of their peers what it was like to lose a friend, a parent or to be left in a wheelchair because someone who crossed their path had been drinking or was chatting on a mobile phone while behind the wheel. During the initiative, a real-time quiz on the topics was also distributed via the Kahoot! platform. The winning classes - one for each stage - received a prize of EUR 1,500 in school supplies.

The initiative stems from the awareness that even today, in Italy, road accidents are the leading cause of death for young people aged 15 to 29. And this is why every year the Brenner Motorway, together with the Traffic Police, stops off at schools in the areas crossed by the A22 with an educational and at the same time captivating project, the result of the collaboration of numerous partners active in the field of road safety. One hundred minutes of advice and good practice, dispensed by two A22 and Stradale trainers from the stage of auditoriums and theatres, followed by a series of practical demonstrations in outdoor spaces: this is the tried and tested formula of the initiative, which in 11 years has involved almost 37 thousand children of the fourth and fifth classes of secondary schools. That is, those who are about to get their driving licence, whose inexperience and underestimation of risk can play tricks on them.

The Brenner motorway has an overall accident rate of 14.54 (2025 figure), far lower than the national average (26.52, 2023 figure, latest available) and with a downward trend that has been constant for years. This is the result of a mix of factors ranging from the choice of cutting-edge materials and design, to the maintenance plan, and prudent management of construction sites and roads. All thanks to an efficient safety machine coordinated by the Cau (User Assistance Centre) 24 hours a day. It is also because of the results achieved on this front that 93% of accidents are now attributable to the human factor. And this is where action must be taken, not least through projects to sensitise young people to responsible driving behaviour.

As mentioned, Abc is a travelling project, disseminating the culture of safety in the territories crossed by the A22, with which the company has a special relationship. It should not be forgotten, in fact, that it was precisely the local authorities that wanted and financed the A22 in the 1960s, a history that is still reflected today in the company structure.