Grosseto. In the first 4 months of the year, the Carabinieri of the Grosseto Forestry sector carried out over 100 controls in matters of off-road traffic, identifying about 40 people and as many motor vehicles, simultaneously elevating 29 administrative violations to the regional law, for a total amount of approximately 6 thousand euros.
These checks are aimed at preventing motor vehicles from traveling areas not suitable for such use, with a view to protecting the environment, in particular the flora and fauna and therefore the landscape and habitats. Even more so in the province of Grosseto, an area with a high agro-forestry-pastoral vocation, rich in protected areas subject to landscape and hydrogeological constraints.
In the first months of 2024, the Carabinieri Forestry Units of Maremma focused particularly on in the areas of coastal pine forests, but also in mountain areasaffected by the off-road traffic ban.
The off-road traffic sector falls within those of the agreement stipulated between the Carabinieri and the Tuscany Region: a protocol by virtue of which the supervision and protection of areas of particular naturalistic value, often affected by the indiscriminate traffic of motor vehicles, is further strengthened. There is also a regional law to protect this sector, n. 48/1994 and subsequent updates, which contains prohibitions and sanctions regarding off-road circulation of motor vehicles.
Specifically, it is prohibited for anyone to circulate with motorized vehicles outside the “roads”, defined in the Highway Code, with only emergency vehicles, fire prevention vehicles, police forces, etc. being excluded from the prohibitions. The administrative sanction establishes a ranging amount from a minimum of 154 euros to a maximum of 516 euros. The prohibitions and sanctions may be different in the case of areas falling within, for example, national parks.
