Historic cars and motorcycles are a socio-cultural value to be preserved. ASI and the Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Lancia Historical Registers present an extraordinary appeal to the Presidency of the Republic against the traffic blocks in the capital
February 27, 2023
The goal ofHistoric Italian Automotoclub and gods Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Lancia Historical Registers – all certifying bodies pursuant to art. 60 of the Highway Code – is to obtain the annulment of the decrees of the decrees and resolutions of the Region and the Regional Council of Lazio, the Metropolitan City and the Municipality of Rome which prohibit the circulation of historic vehicles. For this reason they have officially presented an extraordinary appeal to the President of the Republic. In fact, vintage vehicles are included without the appropriate distinction in the most dated and polluting fleet in circulation. Also there FMI (Federazione Motociclistica Italiana), already active in attempts to dialogue with the Municipality of Rome to request the activation of appropriate derogations, will be an interested party and will have the opportunity to intervene.
“Almost 57 million vehicles circulate in Italy – he explains Albert Dark, President of ASI – and, of these, those over twenty are around 16 million. The percentage of the latter that are certified as historical is completely irrelevant, but in order to continue to represent the cultural and economic resource that they are for our country, they must be able to be kept alive by activating specific exemptions concerning circulation. Despite being few and covering a very low average annual kilometer (about 1000 km) during the negotiation phase ASI did not ask the representatives of Rome Capital to let them circulate freely but maintaining some appropriate limitations “.
How many vintage vehicles circulate in Rome?
On the territory of the Metropolitan City of Rome, there are 4,040,078 vehicles in circulation for daily use (MTCT data) and those with a Certificate of Historical Importance registered with the Motorization are 9.945: a share equal to 0.25% of the total, which annually travels 0.014% of the kilometers traveled by vehicles in daily use (source: FIVA census and insurance company data). For these vehicles, which represent a very small part of the traffic in the capital, a waiver is being requested as they are retained irrelevant in terms of environmental impact. According to ASI and others, these are vehicles that they represent a historical, cultural, technological and artistic heritage and completely preventing their circulation means killing the whole world connected to them, causing social, economic and cultural damage.
“ASI has dialogued with the administration of Roma Capitale – underlines President Scuro – bringing proposals aimed at the possibility of using historic vehicles only for recreational and recreational purposes and for slow tourism, therefore with time limitations such as to prevent their use daily and commuter. Furthermore, we propose to monitor their effect, one year after the entry into force of any derogations. Since the historic vehicles for which we ask for exemptions are registered with the DMV, their number and seniority are easily assessable. We propose to monitor them and evaluate corrective measures twelve months after their application, with maximum transparency and concreteness”.
The importance of the era
The sector of historic vehicles is enormously important, as already demonstrated by a Decree of the President of the Republic who in 2022 had agreed on the advisability of a different declination of the restrictions on circulation and the related exemptions with regard to historic vehicles, “which takes account of the safeguarding of the values and interests of private collectors”. Even earlier, ASI had reached another important milestone when the President of the Republic had accepted the Extraordinary Appeal presented by the Federation to obtain the annulment of the decrees and resolutions of the Region and the Regional Council of Piedmont, the Metropolitan City and the Municipality of Turin on bans on the circulation of historic vehicles. The application was presented at the end of 2019 and already in the following months the Piedmontese institutions had implemented the reasons of the ASI by launching the Regional Law of Piedmont 27/2020 for the “Enhancement of vehicles of historical and collecting interest”. “We expect – comments the ASI president – that this new Extraordinary Appeal, brought forward with the same motivations and purposes as the previous one, can also be accepted so that enthusiasts can also be protected in the Capital, where the measures adopted are not proportional to the problem created by certified historic vehicles. We are also confident that the dialogue with the Municipality can continue to arrive at shared and satisfactory solutions for all”.
