Deputy Minister Bignami: “Double the compulsory hours in driving schools” Deputy Minister Bignami: “Double the compulsory hours in driving schools”

At #FORUMAutomotive on March 21, 2023, the statements of the Deputy Minister of Transport aroused particular interest Galeazzo Bignamiwho, addressing the issue of road safety, spoke of the need to invest in trainingalready from the first school cycle, offering among other things double the hours of compulsory driving in driving schoolspreparation for obtaining a driving license B.

BIGNAMI: COMPULSORY HOURS MUST BECOME AT LEAST 12

In particular, for Bignami, very often young people obtain a driving license without fully mastering the medium (in this regard, he also mentioned a dismal episode that hit a relative with a new driver) and therefore it is necessary to do some Licensing changes, today perhaps too simple. As mentioned, the main proposal is to realize at least 12 the hours of compulsory practical tests, currently set at 6, especially considering that in other European countries the compulsory hours go up to 20. The deputy minister also explained that he wanted to include tests on the “danger perceived” possibility, for those who failed the practical test, of retake the exam only after passing a new theory test. “We cannot delegate security to traffic checks alone“, he added, “but you have to invest in training to create a culture of this type from the first approach to the wheel”.

BIGNAMI: YES TO HELMETS FOR ELECTRIC SCOOTERS

Galeazzo Bignami then returned to one of the “strong points” of MIT since Salvini was minister, namely the introduction of helmet mandatory for electric scooters. “For this government, it is inconceivable to put vehicles into circulation that are not in safe conditions. And so those who use scooters, even shared, he must wear a helmet. Discussions are currently underway between the ministry and companies in the sector: we are aware of the difficulties but remain firm on the need to make personal protective equipment mandatory. Saving even a single life, or avoiding a single serious injury, would already reward the effort”.

Galeazzo Bignami: “For this government, it is inconceivable to put on the road vehicles that are not in safe conditions” #FORUMAutoMotive pic.twitter.com/zdNf7NZzID

— FORUMAutoMotive (@FORUMAutoMotive) March 21, 2023

BIGNAMI: WE ASSESS THE LIFETIME PENALTY OF THE LICENSE

Finally, the Deputy Minister announced that a review of the rules on driving homicide is under consideration, which also contemplates thelifelong driver’s licenseproviding for permanent prohibition measures in the event of a recurrence of serious driving offences.

“We are about to start a Road Safety Observatory in Tuscany“, pointed out Bignami, “in line with what has already been done in Emilia-Romagna and we will soon perfect the path that leads to a National observatory of the causes of accidents. Using data from these observatories, we discovered that young people interact with their smartphones on average 61 times while driving. Understanding what deviant behaviors are helps to better target effective prevention interventions”.

Meanwhile, tomorrow Minister Salvini will host the technical table for the announcement in the halls of MIT revision of the highway code which will bring together some fifty associations from the automotive sector.