BRINDISI – The journey on the motorway had turned into a 12-hour Via Crucis, between construction sites, roadway narrowings and accidents. Now a motorist from Brindisi has obtained a refund equal to half of the toll paid at the Bologna – Taranto exit toll booth. The justice of the peace of Brindisi, Francesca Vilei, accepted the appeal against “Autostrade per l’Italia” presented by the lawyer Maurizio Salerno. The ruling could open the way to countless well-founded claims for motorway toll reimbursement and compensation for damages.
The story dates back to 28 June 2021. The user, when passing the Forlì Nord entrance toll booth, is not warned of the inconveniences he would have suffered on the route, due to the presence of countless road construction sites with the reduction and narrowing of the traffic lanes. march and the concomitant circumstance that from early in the morning, on the San Benedetto del Tronto – Grottammare stretch, transit was completely blocked due to the fact that three trucks had been engulfed in flames.
In the appeal, the user complained that he felt sick and unwell and that he did not receive any assistance and that for long stretches, not even a single centimeter of motorway asphalt was visible. With the result of the presence of a single snake made up of thousands of cars and trucks, and obviously people, trapped under the 40° and above of the sun at the end of June.
The lawyer considered it regrettable to construct an entire motorway network at the beginning of summer, despite the foreseeable invasion of tourists. He therefore challenged the Highway Company in court that, upon the occurrence of an accident such as the one described, concomitant with the critical situation created by the “work in progress”, it did not “close” the entrance to the highway. In short, as highlighted in the appeal, the organization should have informed the user of what he was facing.
The Judge accepted the motorist’s request by establishing three fundamental principles: the judge of the consumer’s place of residence is competent (in this case the justice of the peace of Brindisi, pursuant to art. 63 of the consumer code) and not that instead indicated by the Highway Company of the place (Forlì) where the event occurred or of residence (Rome) of the defendant.
And then: the commercial practice implemented by motorway companies is incorrect, consisting in the reduction of travel lanes or in specific limitations – for long stretches – of the maximum speed allowed (normally equal to 130 km/h) which creates significant inconvenience for consumers, increasing travel times significantly, in the absence of adjustment of the amount requested as a motorway toll (construction site delay); the motorway user who suffers similar treatments, in addition to partial reimbursement of the toll, has the right to compensation for the damages he proves to have suffered.
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