IL CENTAURO (http://goo.gl/SLNH1X) interviews the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi about the “road murder”: “there is certainly an emptiness in our penal code that must be refilled” (http://goo.gl/h3mdwZ) / translation by Claudio Martino (AIFVS)
Q. Prime Minister, the road violence was present, for the first time in Republican history, in a speech delivered by a Government in order to obtain a vote of confidence from the Parliament. Can you explain why?
A. As Mayor (of Florence), I know that all the public managers have to bump into very hard methods. For me, as I told, these moments were the sms by which the municipal police’s chief gave me notice about a road crash, in which someone had lost the life. I reminded the story of Lorenzo in Florence, but there is a Lorenzo in every corner of the Country. At this moment, you are not only a mayor up against the bureaucracy and public tasks, but you feel the pain of a family struck by an excruciating event. Road violence is a social tragedy: because it hits mainly young people, because it destroys not only the families, but also the community and the institutions. The road crashes are the first cause of death and permanent impairement for young people, a huge cost for the State (more than 30 billions euros every year, equal to 2% of the GDP). Facing other countries, the best ones in this field, like UK, Sweden, The Netherlands, we realize that to halve the present mortality is possible. So big a problem of “public health” and economy, that can be faced and reduced, how could I not to consider it a priority and let it ignore by the politicians?
Q. Let’s get to the point: the proposal of instituting a form of Road Murder never was so concrete. Which steps will the first signatory of the bill do, now that he holds the helm-stock of our Country?
A. There is certainly an emptiness in our penal code that must be refilled. For this reason, I was the first signatory on the bill proposed by the local government of Florence, Asaps, Association Lorenzo Guarnieri and Association Gabriele Borgogni in 2011. The purpose then was of inviting the Government and Parliament to think about and to refill this deficiency.
Q. Mister Prime Minister: the cooperation between law enforcement agencies was an important subject for decades, but it’s really very hard to understand why the Government never created an only telephone number for the emergencies.
A. I think of “sinergies” between the law enforcement agencies. We must aim for efficiency and modernity, drawing inspiration, also in this case, from successful models of some Countries. To regive efficiency means also to improve the service to the citizen,
Q. Stronger punishments, we agree, but in the sphere of road safety what else to do?
A. Fighting the road violence is a complex problem, that is why it is not possible to act on only one chapter, but it is necessary to work on many fronts, on different levels, which must not remain closed doors, but must interact with one another. English people use the expression “3E” in order to show the things to do: Enforcement, Education, Engineering. Road violence is not fruit of destiny. In most cases it is produced by a wrong behavior while driving. People who drive in stale physical conditions must be aware, and in this case it is necessary to make them responsible, that they are a danger for other people and for themselves.
