Through memorandum no. 300/A/5620/17/144/5/20/3 of 21 July 2017 the Italian Ministry of the Interior has introduced new rules on police checks concerning the compliance with the road code.
The main new features include:
- the Prefects’ constant monitoring of the location of speed detection systems, which must be motivated exclusively by road safety requirements;
- the reclassification and definition of speed detection systems: fixed (for example Tutor and Vergilius), temporary (speed radar detector), movable (equipment used by a moving vehicle); as well as the mandatory requirement of annual calibration and inspection of equipment (in compliance with the provisions of the Italian Constitutional Court, judgment no. 113 of 29 April 2015);
- the precise determination of the activities of technical assistance of private persons, which must never interfere with those of the police force and must be in any case carried out under its supervision;
- the assessment expenses to be borne by the offender, which will have to be detailed and well documented;
- the possibility of taking frontal shots by means of remote devices, as long as the car is automatically darkened and therefore the occupants of the vehicle cannot be recognized;
- the introduction of more precise rules for signaling and making the speed control stations visible, which will be able to work in both driving directions.
The memorandum, especially in the portion where it further specifies the obligations of warning and visibility of speed devices, shows the Government’s will to give priority to transparency in its relations with the citizen and to avoid the risk that such instruments are used by local administrations for the sole purpose of “making cash”.
(Bologna Office – Federico Tassinari – 0039 (0)51 2750020)
