Naples' ever-resourceful scooter riders have found a new way to get out of fines for not wearing helmets - claiming they're depressed.
A rash of very similar cases - at least ten - have occurred over the last two weeks, local daily Il Mattino reported Tuesday.
The young offenders have been trooping into courts armed with doctor's certificates stating they are "depressed or under unusual stress," it said.
Sympathetic judges have quashed a string of fines and other penalties.
Police in the sprawling southern city, which is noted for its chaotic traffic, are worried.
"The way things are going they'll be letting them off if they say they have a headache," said top traffic cop Carlo Schiettini.
"We strongly suspect these are copycat cases. We've got to stop the rot".
The deputy head of Naples' justices of the peace, Antonello Di Rienzo, denied there was a worrying pattern to recent sentences.
"Every case is assessed on its merits," he claimed.
Naples is famous in Italy for the quick wits of some law-avoiding citizens.
A day after new seat-belt laws came into effect, T-shirts with belts printed on them were drawing crowds of eager buyers.
