Almost 200 cyclists lost their lives on Italian roads throughout 2023. The estimates released by Asaps speak clearly: with the 13 deaths recorded in December the total number of victims for the entire year rises to 197. “As if all the participants in the Giro d'Italia cycling had disappeared”, is the dark picture drawn by Giordano Biserni, the president of the association, to say the least. Remembering, as always, that it is about partial data because they don't take into account the seriously injured who won't make it to hospital.
Some data
Overall, 175 male and 22 female cyclists lost their lives. No age group was spared: 75 cyclists were over 65 years old, but there were also several victims who had not yet reached the age of majority. At the regional level the Lombardy won the black jersey: 39 cyclists died in the Region with Milan in all of 2023, ten more than those in Emilia-Romagna, second in the ranking, and seventeen from Veneto, which climbs to the lowest step of the podium. July was the most tragic month for cyclists: 34 lost their lives in the seventh month of the year alone.
Road hacking increasingly widespread
Above all, the 18 cases of road hacking ascertained over the twelve months, with the escape of the person making the investment. The causes of fatal accidents? Different, although investments in cars remain the main one (without forgetting those in buses and trucks). In some cases, Asaps always reports, motorists have been found positive for alcohol, drugs and in the most sporadic cases also for both substances. One last fact: a dozen electric bikes were involved, which are increasingly present on Italian roads.
Biserni speaks
“The almost two hundred cyclists who died in 2023 on Italian roads are the reflection of one insecurity which is present above all in cities, where an ever-increasing number of cycle paths built by municipal administrations to protect users, clashes with distraction and high speed on the part of many motorists – added President Biserni – This vehicle absolutely needs to be better protected in small and large cities, which are increasingly congested, but it is necessary to increase safety with a greater number of uniforms and controls. We then reiterate that the bill now in the Transport Committee of the Chamber of Deputies must be brought to the Chamber of Deputies approved urgently, we fear that parliamentary work will take many months, as happened with the law on road homicide, considering that there are some rules on cycling that could guarantee the safety increasingly required by cyclists. The year 2024, which has just begun, will have to see each of us as protagonists in respecting the rules on the road, to reduce the crosses and bouquets of flowers that line many arteries”.
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