Salvini's Highway Code reforms to become law.

Italy has updated its Highway Code with new rules requiring electric scooter users to wear helmets, get licence plates and be insured, following final approval by the parliament.

The bill, already approved by Italy's lower house in March, was passed by the senate on Wednesday with 83 votes in favour, 47 against and one abstention.

The new legislation, part of a broader reform of the highway code or codice stradale, includes stiffer penalties for drink and drug driving, using phones at the wheel, and abandoning animals by the roadside.

The bill was pushed through by transport minister and deputy premier Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing Lega party, in a bid to "reduce the massacres on Italian roads".

Over the past few years the use of e-scooters in Italy has boomed, with Rome introducing measures recently to curb the number of rental monopattini elettrici in circulation on the city's streets from 14,500 to 9,000.

In a recent report, Italy's national statistics institute ISTAT said that e-scooters were involved in 3,365 accidents last year, resulting in 3,195 people injured and 21 fatalities, an increase from the 2,929 accidents recorded in 2022, which left 2,787 injured and 16 dead.

"No more wild scooters," Salvini wrote on social media, adding that e-scooter riders will be banned from cycle lanes, pedestrianised areas and non-urban roads.

Il nuovo Codice della Strada è finalmente LEGGE.
Più sicurezza e prevenzione, contrasto ad abusi e comportamenti scorretti, norme aggiornate ed educazione stradale vera.

(1/2) pic.twitter.com/k9guDsd8v5

— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) November 20, 2024

What else changes in Italy's updated Highway Code?

Speeding fines

Motorists who break the speed limit in urban areas twice a year or more face speeding fines of up to €880 and risk having their licence suspended for 15 to 30 days.

Local authorities will not be permitted to issue motorists with more than one fine for repeated speeding violations that come within an hour of each other.

If there is more than one speeding ticket, the motorist must pay only the biggest fine, increased by one third.

Drink driving

Motorists caught driving with a blood alcohol content of between 0.5 and 0.8 grams per litre face a fine of between €573 and €2,170 and a licence suspension of three to six months.

The fine doubles for motorists caught driving with a blood alcohol level of between 0.8 and 1.5 grams per litre, with a driving ban of up to a year and a six-month jail term.

The sanctions are even tougher for those caught driving with a blood alcohol level over 1.5 grams per litre: fines between €1,500 and €6,000, a driving ban of up to two years, and a one-year jail term.

In addition, anyone found with a blood alcohol content of 0.8 grams or more will be obliged to install an "alcolock" breath alcohol ignition interlock device once they get their licence back.

Motorists caught driving under the influence of drugs face bans of up to three years.

Mobile phones

The reforms hike the penalties for using cell phones at the wheel - between €250 and €1,000 - with maximum fines of €1,400 for repeat offenders plus a three-month driving ban.

Penalties are more severe if phone use while driving results in an accident.

Abandoning animals

Drivers who abandon dogs by the roadside face losing their licences for between six months and a year and they risk seven years in jail if an accident is caused by the abandoned animal.

There will also be higher fines for parking illegally in disabled parking spaces - from €330 to €990 - and in bus lanes or stops - from €165 to €660.

The legislation is set to be signed into law by Italy's president Sergio Mattarella in the coming days and is expected to take effect by the end of this year.

Photo Wanted in Rome