The City 30 is there but you can’t see it. Or rather, stamps, signs and posters cover a good part of Bologna from the center to the outskirts, but all things considered, after the test of evidence, the car ride, the impression is that little or nothing has changed since, way back on January 16th, sanctions for violators came into force and everyone was asked to respect the new speed limit. The accident rate numbers provided by Palazzo d’Accursio are not in question here, according to which in the first three months the total drop in accidents would have been 14.5%. Nor do the controversies over the new speed cameras and the validity of the fines or those between the municipal administration and the ministry on the methods of application of the provision come into play. We carried out the test over several days, going around and patrolling most of the city’s streets. Not just those at 30 kilometers per hour, even those at 50.
The police and the info cameras
The idea was to avoid rush hours precisely to be in a position to be able to verify whether, when there is the possibility, i.e. with the roads clearer of vehicles, Bolognese motorists stick to the rules. Quite simply, in most cases, this does not happen. And so, for example, on a morning projected towards the May 1st bridge, an unusually little frequented Via Mazzini saw passing motorists proceeding calmly between 50 and 55 per hour. At least until the next red light. Another tour, another gift, turning from via Zanardi to via Carracci, the desire to step on the accelerator is stopped after a few hundred meters by the presence of a municipal police patrol: in reality, the police are only equipped with infovelox, with which they invite you to proceed within the limits; they are not equipped with telelasers and therefore, no fines. Once the obstacle has passed, in fact, the two cars in front of us go back to over 50 as if the monster at the end of a video game level had been overcome and we could breathe a big sigh of relief.
In via Saragozza at lunchtime
On the other side of the city, in Viale Felsina, a Carabinieri checkpoint is preceded by a sign with the words “slow down”, but even in this case there are no veloxes and you can only be stopped for a discretionary check. More generally, even on Viale Lenin which will soon host one of the new fixed speed cameras, to date, if there is the possibility, it goes a little further than allowed. It doesn’t get better around lunchtime in via Saragozza. Few cars and, if the traffic lights allow it, you can travel peacefully at around 50 per hour, even if stamps and signs invite you, as always, to respect the 30.
Indeed, as the municipal administration confirms, very few fines are issued but upon closer inspection it is not so much the new awareness of the people of Bologna that makes the difference, but rather the scarcity of controls. Compared to the first few weeks, no matter how hard you look, you struggle to find any.
The test on the avenues
In the early afternoon we try to test the large snake that from via Bovi Campeggi, along Casarini leads to via Malvasia: here too, with little traffic, the average number of cars in front of us is between 45 and 50 per hour. Of the thirty not even a shadow. We move to the Viale Sabena area, behind the Maggiore hospital, where the technicians are finishing setting up the new fixed speed camera: here the limit is and will be 50 km/h, but if you proceed within the limit you will regularly be stripped. From everyone, even from vans. The refrain does not change in other streets of the city, in via Murri, in via Andrea Costa. Even in the construction site via Saffi: as soon as you overcome the toboggan of narrows and chicanes and pass in front of the Maggiore hospital, the road widens a little and the invitation becomes irresistible, with the classic swerve to the right or left if a vehicle continues to proceed slowly. We would not like to mention the avenues, that is, other roads with the speed limit of 50 per hour: here too, traffic lights permitting, the foot becomes heavier than necessary, but while waiting for the control to come into operation in Berti Pichat, the only garrison Viale Panzacchi remains, a totem near which the brake pedal magically comes into operation. In the evening, with car traffic in drastic decline, the behaviors described are simply confirmed. If not even, accentuated. Demonstrating the fact that while politics slows down and discusses, there is a Bologna that continues to be in a great hurry.
