In recent years, electric scooters have revolutionized urban mobility, offering a practical and ecological alternative for moving around cities. However, the growing use of these vehicles has raised questions about road safety and regulation. The new Traffic Laws officially entered into force on Saturday 14 December 2024, bringing with it important changes to improve road safety and combat dangerous behaviour, but Also lots of chaos on the scooters.
Let’s see in detail all the main innovations.
Scooters, are helmet, license plate and insurance already mandatory?
Chaos for scooters triggers the obligation to have a license plate, helmet (even for adults) and insurance. Furthermore they will only be able to travel on urban roads with speed limit not exceeding 50 km/h and it will no longer be possible to go against traffic, therefore not on cycle paths or within pedestrian areas. Motorists, however, will have to maintain a distance of at least one and a half meters when overtaking a cyclist.
But there are some problems. Among other things, the license plate is needed, but no one knows how to do it.
Where are scooter license plates made?
As we were saying, there are no implementing decrees and no one knows what to do. The obligation to wear a helmet applies immediately, but a decree is required for license plates and insurance.
Currently, therefore, it is not yet clear how to make the license plate.
And for those in sharing?
The situation is also complicated when it comes to sharing:
“For the license plate, however, the European Union has already established that vehicles under 25 per hour should not have itbut this has been ignored by the new rules of the Highway Code – explains Michele Francione, operations and development director of Bit Mobility -, while the insurance on our vehicles is already present, as it is among the requirements set out in the municipal tenders” . And it is not yet clear how to make the license plate.
And they also appear many appeals:
“The high fines for the lack of helmets can be contested and through appeals an orientation will be formed in this regard”, highlights the lawyer Cadamuro to the Messaggero.
“As happens with the article concerning the identification mark – continues Cadamuro – the specifications of the mark are described which must comply with the methods established by decree of the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, after consulting the Minister of Economy and Finance, but yes it is a decree that does not currently exist and which the government has time to pass within 12 months. Hence the impossibility, for the moment, of imposing sanctions.”
Drive with your cell phone
Strict on the use of smartphones behind the wheel. Anyone caught using a cell phone risks a fine from 250 to 1,000 euros. In case of repeat offenses, the fine increases up to 1,400 euros, accompanied by license suspension for three months. If the infringement causes an accident, the suspension times double. Furthermore, those who drive without seat belts or against traffic can be subject to the same measure.
Driving while intoxicated
For whom driving while intoxicated zero tolerance is expected. The sanctions are graduated based on the blood alcohol level. Between 0.5 and 0.8 g/l there is a fine of 573 to 2,170 euros and a suspension of the license from 3 to 6 months. Between 0.8 and 1.5 g/l, in addition to the fine (800-3,200 euros), you risk arrest for up to 6 months and suspension of your driving license for up to one year. Over 1.5 g/l the penalty includes a fine of 1,500 to 6,000 euros, arrest of up to one year and suspension of driving licence one to two years.
For repeat offenders, thealcohollocka device that prevents the engine from starting if the detected blood alcohol level is above zero. This obligation also applies to new drivers with a zero blood alcohol level for the first three years.
Driving under the influence of drugs
The rules for whom driving under the influence of drugs are even more severe: it is no longer necessary to demonstrate a state of psycho-physical alteration, it is enough to prove it tested positive. In these cases the license will be revoked with a ban on obtaining it again for three years. Medical cannabis users are not covered by this rule.
Limits for new drivers
THE new drivers they will not be able to drive vehicles with a power exceeding 75 kW/t and cars with a maximum power of 105 kW for the first three years, but the ban has been slightly relaxed compared to the past. For them, the zero tolerance limit on alcohol remains for three years.
Speeding and speed cameras
Who exceeds more 10 km/h speed limits risks a fine starting from 173 euros and can reach up to 880 euros in residential areaswith license suspension of up to one month for repeated violations. There is also news for speed camera fines: if on the same stretch of road you receive multiple fines in an hour, you pay only the most serious fine increased by a third.
Animal abandonment
In the end. Who abandon animals on the street he risks the revocation or suspension of the driving license from six months to one year. In the event of accidents with injuries or deaths caused by this conduct, you risk up to seven years in prison.
