A category B driving licence as early as age 17, speeding fines calculated on a progressive scale, motorcyclists allowed to use the emergency lane when traffic backs up on motorways, and mandatory helmets and identification plates for so-called “super-bikes”. Italy’s highway code (Codice della strada) could be in for another shake-up, with 15 major proposals now on the table.
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (Mit) has sent the proposals to more than a hundred operators and associations, opening a period of consultation on the changes. These are not yet new rules in force, but measures under review.
One of the changes likely to spark the most debate concerns the category B licence, which could become available from the age of 17. The issue is part of a broader package with which the ministry aims to revise several aspects of current regulations.
Significant changes could also be on the way for speeding fines. The idea is to move beyond the current flat-rate approach and introduce a more progressive system: the further over the limit a driver goes, the higher the fine, taking into account how dangerous the road in question is.
One proposal under consideration for motorways envisages a €10 fine for every kilometre per hour over the limit. In practice: with a speed limit of 130 km/h, driving at 140 km/h could cost €100, while reaching 170 km/h would push the fine up to €400.
On roads with a speed limit of 30 or 50 km/h, the proposed rate would instead be €5 for every kilometre per hour over the limit.
Changes are also in the pipeline for motorcyclists. Among the proposals is the possibility for motorcyclists to use the emergency lane on motorways when traffic slows down, allowing them to avoid being stuck in queues, sometimes in scorching heat. Also under discussion is halving fines for two-wheelers parked in no-parking zones.
A separate chapter is dedicated to so-called “super-bikes”, power-assisted cycles frequently used by delivery riders. For these vehicles, the ministry is considering introducing a mandatory helmet requirement and an identification plate.
The package also addresses a crackdown on vehicles circulating without insurance, the recovery of unpaid fines from foreign drivers, and measures to tackle the problem of abandoned vehicles.
The ministry has stated that its goal is to arrive at a highway code that is “as close as possible to the needs of motorists, with road safety as the top priority”.
The guidelines set out by the ministry include “greater protection for vulnerable road users, a crackdown on uninsured vehicles, fairer and less punitive fines, a driving licence at 17, mandatory identification plates for power-assisted cycles, stronger protections for motorcyclists, greater guarantees for citizens, and more resources for road safety”.
For now, none of these changes has come into force. The proposals form the basis of the consultation launched by the ministry with associations and operators ahead of drawing up the new text.
