According to data provided by the Highway Patrol, since the new Highway Code came into effect, the number of revoked driving licenses has seen an unprecedented spike. In fact, there is a increase of over 30% compared to the same period last year, and if these numbers are confirmed, the signal would be clear: the crackdown on safety has begun and its consequences are already being felt on Italian roads.

The new Highway Code aims to more harshly combat dangerous driving behaviors, particularly mobile phone use, drunk driving, and speed limit violations, given that the primary cause of accidents is driver rudeness/distraction.

Mobile Phone While Driving: Zero Tolerance
Mobile phone use while driving is undoubtedly a plague for traffic, causing most accidents, so the tightening of penalties is welcome, and the discontent expressed by much of the public only demonstrates users' bad habits. Simply holding a smartphone can now cost up to 1,500 euros in fines, in addition to up to 10 points deducted from the license and immediate suspension for a minimum of 15 days.

Drunk Driving and Drugs: Crackdown
Another hot front concerns driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, an extremely dangerous habit that should not be taken lightly. The new Code articles do not address the root cause but provide for more frequent checks, rapid saliva tests, and in the most serious cases, license revocation for periods exceeding 12 months, along with mandatory review and rehabilitation programs. No comment for those complaining that they can no longer drink at the restaurant before driving!

Reactions: Between Approval and Concerns
Among all the data, one reality stands out: 40 cyclists lost their lives in the first quarter of 2025, run over on the road. Exactly the same number as in 2024, and to think that the first reform project was born precisely in the aftermath of our champion Davide Rebellin's death.

While road victim associations, as anticipated, doubt the effectiveness of this reform, paradoxically motorists, restaurateurs, and other road users would consider the new normative front too severe, as would professional categories who feel too penalized by a single mistake.

An interesting fact concerns young new license holders, who represent over 40% of suspension cases registered in the first three months of 2025: perhaps the approach of driving schools should be revised, as they clearly cannot today transmit to young people the importance of respecting the highway code.

Objective: More Safety, Fewer Victims
The Government's objective seemed clear: drastically reduce the number of fatal accidents, still too high compared to the European average, but despite the Transport Minister's statement ("We have taken the right path - the Minister reiterated - and we intend to continue with tight controls and awareness campaigns aimed especially at young people"), the reality on the roads contradicts the promised effectiveness of this reform, minimally impactful on the most dangerous driver behaviors.

One example is overtaking: the new Article 148 states 1.5 meters when passing a cyclist, but then adds the condition of the road, where it allows, thus rendering the norm totally ineffective, to date never applied nor sanctioning the hundreds of thousands of daily transgressors: there is no cyclist who cannot testify to the millimeter-close overtakes suffered!

The debate is open, but one thing is certain: the new Highway Code has not changed the way Italians drive, despite statements and threats, including promised controls.

Meanwhile, our association and legal firms operating in the field collect dramatic accident cases daily caused by speeding, mobile phone use, drunk driving, and profound rudeness, but even more so an attitude of "disrespect" towards other road users, especially the more vulnerable, invisible, and yet bulky cyclists!

The appeal remains to remember that on the bicycle you are overtaking, no matter how irritated or annoyed you are, there is a father, a son, a mother, or a sister and they deserve all possible caution so that this maneuver does not turn into a tragedy for all parties.

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