The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, released the following statement to mark the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims:
«The large number of people who lose their lives or who are seriously injured on our roads constitutes an unacceptable social affliction. Road traffic victims are a price that communities cannot tolerate to pay.
On this day, allow me to express my closeness to families in remembering those who have died or have suffered injuries.
If we consider the broken lives or the serious injuries of cyclists, pedestrians, the elderly, the disabled – the vulnerable users of our roads – we clearly see that improving secure mobility solutions is a priority. The data relative to road traffic victims among minors are equally unacceptable.
To assure the protection of lives, it is essential to put in place a targeted joint synergic action between institutions, civil society organizations and industries. We must implement the objectives set forth by the European Union’s Strategic Framework.
Making our roads less dangerous also requires the adoption of more stringent security standards for means and infrastructures and implies incentivizing new mobility models and promoting more widespread and efficient public transport systems to connect regions.
Moreover, it is evident that it is of primary importance to maximize the dissemination of the culture of responsibility among drivers to enhance the awareness of the risks that we all run and that they expose other people’s lives to when driving their vehicles. »
