In a span of three months following the implementation of the New Road Code initiated by Minister Matteo Salvini, Italy has witnessed a 5.1% decrease in road accidents, with a concurrent rise in the number of short-term license suspensions.

From January to March 2025, over 16,000 licenses were suspended, marking a 54.7% increase compared to the 38,000 licenses revoked during the entirety of 2024. The data compiled by the Italian State Police reflects an effective response to stricter penalties, despite a 4.4% decrease in the number of traffic patrols, down to 118,787 officers and vehicles deployed for enforcement.

The reduction in accidents is notable, with reported incidents dropping from 14,842 between December 2017 and March 2018 to 11,568 between December 2024 and March 2025. The preventive media campaign launched by the Ministry of Transport appears to have encouraged greater caution among Italian drivers.

Additionally, the issuance of penalties has decreased by 37.7% year-on-year, from 570,948 to 355,903.

In a related development, the Ministry of Transport announced the suspension of a decree governing speed cameras, citing the need for further examination of the implementation details.

As a consequence of the increased suspensions, municipal police departments are facing a heightened workload managing the influx of legal notices generated by the new regulations.

Short-term suspensions are also applied in cases of minor infractions such as improper overtaking and failure to yield to pedestrians.

The enforcement process has become more intricate, with officers required to follow eight new procedures to ascertain the nature of each infraction.

These protocols include verifying if the violation warrants a short-term suspension as specified in Article 218 Ter of Law 177/2024, checking the driver’s license points, and accessing the national driving license registry (ANAG) to determine if the driver has less than 20 points.

If so, the officer must proceed with the immediate suspension.

Any driver who causes an accident may face additional penalties, resulting in a longer suspension period.

The new system has provoked a bureaucratic strain in urban centers, mainly when local police enforce regulations.

Municipal police officers are particularly disadvantaged as they have to pay for access to the ANAG database due to existing laws that do not equate their authority with that of state police forces.

Mayors are required to fund these accesses to ensure that officers can enforce the new penalties accordingly.

The implementation of stricter limits and increased monitoring has contributed to a notable deterrent effect in many cities.

Enhanced control measures, including electronic monitoring and the establishment of low-traffic zones with speed limits below 30 km/h, are generally credited with the decline in road incidents.

Further adjustments may be necessary for the reforms to operate at optimal efficiency, with hopes that the reduction in accidents will persist and that the increased enforcement will mirror successes seen in previous decades with mandatory seatbelt laws.