PAVIA – “Maximum attention towards road accidents and joint efforts to implement wide-ranging preventive measures, starting from structural interventions, maintenance and renewal of roads, adaptation of signage by the relevant authorities, identification of dangerous road sections requiring the installation of speed detectors (speed cameras), awareness and road education initiatives.”
This is the summary of the latest meeting of the Provincial Observatory for monitoring road accidents, chaired by the Prefect of Pavia, Francesca De Carlini, with the active participation of the President of the Province, the Head of the Traffic Police Section, the delegated Manager of ANAS and the Vice President of ACI.
Fifteen mayors from the area, the Commander of the Provincial Police, local administrators and commanders of municipal police, as well as the Security Councillor and the Commander of the local police of Pavia, the Provincial Commander of the Carabinieri and representatives from the Police Headquarters and the Guardia di Finanza were present at the meeting.
During the meeting, the numbers of accidents in the province were revealed. The data confirms the seriousness of the situation. There have been 306 accidents, including 5 fatal ones, recorded by the Traffic Police from January 1st to July 27th, 2023. There were 621 accidents in 2022, 577 in 2021, 542 in 2020, including 13, 19, and 20 fatal accidents respectively.
Meanwhile, 649 driving license suspensions were issued by the Prefecture from January 1st to July 28th of this year, including 82 for irregular overtaking, 63 for driving under the influence of alcohol, 248 as additional penalties following accidents causing harm to people, and 12 for dangerous U-turns.
“Implementing a wide range of measures and initiatives to combat road accidents, in light of the numbers already recorded this year, which we must reduce as soon as possible with targeted initiatives for each specific area of the territory. This is a complex phenomenon,” said the Prefect, “that requires responsible and united responses from everyone, articulated on multiple fronts.”
Among the planned measures: “Intensification of checks by the Police Forces and support to municipal police where present, comprehensive prevention activities with penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding, and distraction due to the use of electronic devices.”
The meeting also involved the examination and sharing of the draft prefectural decree authorizing the installation of speed detectors without immediate contestation in potentially dangerous road sections, according to the proposals of the mayors evaluated by the Traffic Police. This decree concerns 67 municipalities and 19 state or provincial roads.
