Salvini now wants bike plates, but in 2015 he said it was a crazy suggestion
Matteo Salvini wants to make helmets, insurance, license plates and arrows compulsory for bicycles and scooters. But in 2015 he considered the hypothesis of such measures for these vehicles “crazy”.
In the previews given by Lega Nord minister Matteo Salvini yesterday of the new road code, there is a restriction on bicycles and scooters. There is talk of compulsory helmets, insurance, license plates and arrows for scooters and bicycles, through “concrete changes to the road traffic regulations, together with an enabling law for the organic reform of the road traffic regulations themselves, which we want to bring to the examination shortly.” Rooms,” promised Salvini, probably as early as June, to ensure “more rules, more education and more safety on Italian roads”.
It begins with the introduction of a life imprisonment for the driver’s license, i.e. the immediate life imprisonment of the driver’s license for those who cause accidents under the influence of drugs. It also plans to introduce the alcohol lock, a tool already used in other European countries that locks the car and prevents it from starting if the driver’s blood alcohol level is above zero. The Department of Transport is also working on a draft ministerial decree affecting speed cameras, to harmonize them nationally and prevent them from becoming a “hidden tax” on motorists.
For bicycles and scooters, on the other hand, the introduction of compulsory helmets, insurance, number plates and arrows is planned, as well as a crackdown that will penalize wild stops on sidewalks and in areas reserved for the disabled and wrong-way drivers. A tightening of sanctions that has drawn much criticism from business associations. This is the case of Confindustria Ancma (National Association of Bicycle and Motorbike Accessories), according to which all these measures “do not go in the direction of achieving greater safety”.
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However, journalist Carlo Canepa recalled this on Twitter Salvini disagreed with the same measures he is proposing today. In fact, the league chairman and vice premier wrote in a 2015 tweet: “Meanwhile, a PD senator has proposed putting up license plates and making bike owners pay stamp duty as well. Matti,” complete with the hashtag “#labicinonsitocca.” Why Salvini changed his mind isn’t clear. The fact is that the secretary of the Lega Nord did not like the proposal for an identification sign for two-wheelers and even called “crazy” a democratic parliamentarian who had proposed it. This hypothesis was put forward less than ten years ago. We hope that Salvini can explain this about-face.
