A video published on social media, shot by some young people present in via Aurelia in Savona shortly after the collision between a car and a motorbike on which two girls were travelling, one of whom died, is causing discussion. The victim was called Sofia Barbieri, and she was the daughter of the councilor for social services of the municipality of Ceriale (Savona), Barbara De Stefano.
The two friends, on a motorbike, were hit by a car. Immediately afterwards, some boys present at the scene shot a video, which then ended up on social media, in which one of them can be heard laughing and commenting on what had happened, talking about the risk of being charged with attempted murder and even going so far as to joke about the police.
Sofia Barbieri, who would have turned 23 soon, died almost instantly. It happened on the night between 19 and 20 June in Liguria, on the Aurelia. The friend who was with her on the motorbike is very serious and hospitalized.
Hours later, the same young man published a second video, this time to apologize, saying that he did not immediately understand the gravity of what he was filming. But the damage was now done.
From the reconstruction that has emerged so far, the two girls on the motorbike collided with a Fiat 500 and were thrown to the ground. Sofia died shortly afterwards at the Santa Corona hospital in Pietra Ligure.
The investigations, conducted by the Carabinieri of the Ceriale station and coordinated by the Savona Prosecutor’s Office, made it possible to reconstruct the dynamics of the frontal-lateral impact, thanks to the testimonies collected on site and the images of the municipal cameras. At the wheel of the Fiat 500 was a young new driver, whose license was revoked: she is the only one investigated for road homicide by the prosecutor Maddalena Sala.
But where have we arrived?
There’s a girl dying on the asphalt, and a few meters away there’s someone taking out their phone. Not to call for help, not to make a video to send to the police as evidence. For laughs. To enjoy the scene as if it were content, something to share, to comment on with friends before the body was even cold.
The problem isn’t just that guy. It’s just that gestures like this no longer really surprise us. We read them, we get indignant for a few minutes on social media, and then we move on to the next post. But what does it mean that the first reaction of a young person when faced with a corpse is to think about “how many likes” or how to tell it, rather than stopping, remaining silent, being afraid, feeling pain?
It’s not just a problem of an “asshole” boy, as he himself defined himself, apologizing too late. It is a problem for all of us: for a generation – and not only that – which has learned to look at reality through a screen before even living it. Death has become content. The pain of others, material to share. And when the limit between reality and story has disintegrated like this, the question is no longer “how could he do it”, but “how many others would do it, without even realizing it”.
