Hi everyone! Alfonso Rago informed us from Rome: on 17 January he was constituted the Intergroup for Motorcycle Mobility on the initiative of IMF President Copioli and Senator Erika Stefani. It is a political structure but transversal to the parties, created by a dozen deputies and senators who share a passion for motorcycles. They want to grow in number, promote legislative initiatives, propose solutions that promote mobility on two wheels, road education, safety, national production and sporting activity.
Is it to be hoped that things really change? Hope is the last to die, but a certain diffidence arises spontaneously: it’s not that politicians enjoy great popularity in Italy today, we know well how skilled they are in intercepting votes and how the potentially numerous categories are tempting… But we can also add that nIn the group there are two or three elements that we respect and that deserve trust.
What do we expect from them? Copioli declared that it is necessary to start from the recognition of the status of vulnerable user also for the motorcyclist. And we agree: first you need to think about the protection of weak users, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. That they are paying too dearly for general inattention, with a real massacre that never seems to end.
First act requested from the Intergroup? Compulsory traffic education in schools, without delay, to promote respect for the rules and for human life on the roads. Second act, a powerful campaign against the use of smartphones while driving, with strong targeted commercials, posters, radio announcements and then a great “viral” initiative: a surprise day of spot checks and with a great effort throughout the national territory. Undercover agents, unmarked cars, everything needed to nail down the greatest number of users and get the media talking. That from the next day no one picks up the smartphone while driving without thinking twice.
When I say “powerful campaign” I mean something very different from the #don’t do it campaign promoted by the Presidency of the Council, broadcast from Christmas on Rai networks, radios and on the web. This campaign would like to make young people aware of the issue of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs; the problem is enormous and the initiative commendable, but as it stands I fear it is completely useless.
Thirty-five seconds in a professional voice that rattles off flat statistics, “every year more than 6,500 accidents, the first cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds, over 90 percent of accidents could be avoided with prudent behavior…”. It takes more to reach young people!
Third act for the newly established Intergroup? Start with the arrangement of the streets with at least one precise projectone: install the famous guardrail saves motorcyclists with renewed commitment. Put order in the approvals of the barriers, seek an agreement with Anas and with the Provinces, have the safety bands mounted widely on those cursed stakes that kill us. Not everything can be done, but let us see that you have at least started.
