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To understand how few roadside checks there are in Italy, just look at what just happened in Florence. A figurehead was found who was the owner of a fleet of over one hundred vehicles which he made available to people who often did not meet the requirements for owning and driving a car. Obviously many of these vehicles had collected a record number of reports that could not be notified due to the owner’s unavailability. Something like this would not be possible in any other European country because abroad the checks are cross-checked, fast and thorough. And instead, in our country, it took months of investigations – seven to be precise – to discover the scam and report the frontman. It all started last May when, during a road safety check, a patrol from the Fortezza Department stopped a car on Viale Lavagnini that appeared to have no insurance. The driver, a 35-year-old foreigner, declared to the officers that he had purchased the vehicle from a relative for the sum of one thousand euros, but the transfer of ownership was not registered. And the registration card was also invalid. In short, a ghost car, which had been circulating freely for who knows how long.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the holder of the registration certificate was the owner of over 100 vehicles, many of which were seized due to lack of insurance coverage or used by people without a licence. The investigations continued in the following months and the purchase and sale transactions carried out by the man were reconstructed and to substantiate his illicit activity which had led him to come into possession of the vehicles which he then made available to criminals or – in the best case scenario – to people without a driving license and without the requirements to have one. Now the frontman has been reported for fraud and forgery of public documents, he will not be able to carry out any new buying and selling activities and all “his” cars have been canceled by the PRA. But who knows how many other similar cases there are in Italy. Minister Salvini recently declared “More money and more men for the police to increase controls”, but the reality is different. Between now and 2027 the police will have to have 10 thousand fewer people, not fired, but thanks to the mechanism that those who retire will not be replaced. Therefore, the staff shortage will become increasingly serious and the new hires, foreseen in the 2018-2025 multi-year plan, will not be enough to fill the gap of the ax that will be hurled from 2027. These are the effects of the famous Madia Law on the “Reorganization of careers ” establishes that, starting from 1 January 2027, the staff of the State Police will increase from 117,291 to 108,403 units.
This is why the issue of roadside checks is central. And that’s why we’re going in the opposite direction. An example for everyone: alcohol and drug controls currently do not exist in our country. An Italian driver has one chance every 39 years of being stopped for an alcohol test. One Swede every two years.
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