ROAD SAFETY, PUBLIC CONSULTATION OF CNEL STARTS

The CNEL assembly has launched a new public consultation to acquire citizens' opinions on the issue of road safety and the reform of the Highway Code, by completing an online questionnaire. In 2018 there were 3,334 deaths and 242,919 injured and in the first 9 months of 2019 fatal road accidents increased compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the latest Police and Carabinieri data, which are partial but basically confirmed by Istat in the annual report. Still too many people, especially young people, die in road accidents or suffer more or less severe injures with repercussions on future life. The initiative, carried out on the basis of article 10 of the new regulation of the Bodies of the National Council of Economy and Labor, is addressed to all citizens, with particular reference to young people and members of all social and productive organizations in the country, represented at the CNEL, and is supported by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Education and the National Association of School Administrators to guarantee a more widespread awareness-raising activity for young people. The following thematic areas have been identified for the purpose of obtaining the opinion of citizens:

·         Road culture;

·         The conditions of risk;

·         The safety of vehicles;

·         The safety of infrastructures;

·         The controls.

Each area of ​​reference is refined into 19 second-level conceptual groupings, called attributes for a total of 65 questions. This new consultation on road safety, after the one on the future of Europe (of which the Journal with the results is available), is part of a broader plan of activities that has already led to the filing and the subsequent announcement in the Chamber of Deputies of 3 bills to speed up the reform of the Highway Code and a scientific Journal edited by the prefect Roberto Sgalla, former Central Director of the specialized bodies of the State Police. The texts of the legislative proposals concerning “Changes to current legislation on the planning, implementation and monitoring of road safety interventions. Establishment of the National Council for road safety and sustainable mobility "(C. 2144); "Modifications to the highway code on job safety and for the support of mechanized work in agriculture" (C. 2145); “Modifications to the highway code to strengthen the effectiveness of the regulations. Protection of vulnerable users. Widespread control. Simplification and containment of expenditure" (2146)". Italy has little more than a year left for the decrease in the number of road deaths below 2000, as required by the EU 2010-2020 Plan. This target was already missed in the previous decade, when the EU regulations provided for a 50% reduction in road deaths while in Italy it stands at around 42%.