The Italian city of Bologna has found itself at the center of a controversy over its intention to maintain a 30 kilometer per hour speed limit in the city center, despite a court ruling against the measure and opposition from the national government of Giorgio Meloni.
In Bologna, traffic accidents fell by 13 percent and the number of deaths was reduced by about 50 percent in the year after the city became the first major city in Italy to introduce a 30 km/h limit in January 2024. Its example was followed this month by the capital Rome, Reuters reports.
Bologna's mayor, Matteo Lepore, said he remained committed to the measure, even though a regional court upheld a complaint by a taxi driver who argued that lower speeds were increasing driving times and reducing his earnings.
The city is now preparing a revised ordinance, with "street-by-street" explanations for the speed limit, as the court requested, but is also facing resistance from national transport minister Matteo Salvini of the far-right League.
Salvini said that 30 km/h limits and traffic cameras are only acceptable in sensitive zones, such as areas around schools or hospitals, and not "when you declare war on cars for ideological reasons."
In Rome, members of Prime Minister Meloni's Brothers of Italy party called on the city government, led by the center-left, to repeal the new 30 km/h speed limit, saying they would otherwise file legal complaints against them.
Mayor Lepore said after the court decision that earlier, higher restrictions would temporarily return to some streets, but only until an updated measure is adopted and Bologna moves forward with its long-term plan.
He argues that the 30 km/h limit will eventually prevail across Italy, following the example of European capitals such as London, Brussels, Paris and Helsinki, which have embraced slower and safer streets, in some cases and despite strong resistance from drivers.
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