Dear Director,
I am a commuter who uses my bicycle every day to go to the station in Gallarate. Every day I walk along Via Torino, where several signs are installed (as in the photo above) which indicate the rules of conduct for both cyclists and motorists. It’s a shame that this effort to educate mutual respect is rendered useless by cars parked along the road.
In particular, I would like to point out two critical situations that almost always occur: the cars parked in front of the pharmacy near the traffic lights at the intersection with Via Buonarroti, and those parked on both sides of the road at the level of the two bars. Speaking of the second case, as an example I report some photos taken on a weekday: the first two were taken around eight in the morning, while I was going towards the center, and the second in the evening, while I was returning from the station. In both cases you can see some cars (of which I have deleted the license plate numbers) stopped next to the pavement. The two bars are almost opposite each other and, moreover, they are near a pedestrian crossing, where there is a concrete area in the center of the road. Therefore cyclists are forced to move towards the center of the road to overtake parked cars, precisely at the point where oncoming cars must move towards the pavement to avoid the stand. As a result, cars pass by cyclists at a distance well below the minimum distance of 1.5 m indicated by the signs. When I get close to this point I have to be very careful before passing stationary cars, to avoid being hit by moving ones… Ultimately, at the moment this stretch of Via Torino is very dangerous for cyclists.
In this regard, I would like to underline that, along the entire stretch of via Torino between the junction with the SS336 and the traffic lights at the intersection with via Buonarroti, two continuous white stripes are clearly visible on both sides. I would like to underline that, according to the Highway Code in force (approved with Legislative Decree No. 285 of 30 April 1992), “Parking on carriageways whose edges are highlighted by a continuous stripe is prohibited” (letter a) of Paragraph 10 of Article 40); and this prohibition always applies, regardless of the presence or absence of vertical prohibition signs. Furthermore, Paragraph 9 of the same Article establishes that “the continuous margin lines can only be crossed by vehicles engaged in public interest service activities and by vehicles that must make an emergency stop”: and I would say that the need to have breakfast or having a coffee at the bar is not an emergency…
Since this bad habit is now deep-rooted, I would like to report this situation to your newspaper, hoping that those responsible (the Local Police, I presume) will begin to intervene so that the minimum safety conditions are restored.
Best regards,
Nicola La Palombara
Speed bumps, school zones and a stop to wild parking: the petition from Fiab Gallarate
