Transport Minister Alessandro Bianchi on Thursday announced plans to revamp Italy's highway code, with lower speed limits and tougher penalties for offences.
Explaining measures his ministry was studying to reduce the country's high accident rate, Bianchi said adaptable speed limits would be introduced on Italy's freeways.
"The lower limit won't just be a flat rate but will be variable, according to conditions," he said.
The minister suggested the limit would be set according to weather, the shape of the road, the time of day and the traffic flow.
The limits would be advised using electronic message boards, like those already used in countries such as the UK. The planned changes envision an overall reduction in the maximum speed limit to 120 km/h. The current limit is 130km/h on most highways, stretching up to 150 km/h on new, straight sections of three-lane roads.
Bianchi also promised a crackdown on dangerous driving, with tougher penalties for people who speed or talk on their cell phones without using hands-free devices.
When it was pointed out to him that many drivers of sports cars bought their vehicles because they like travelling at high speeds, the minister said: "Ferrari owners can go race on their own tracks if they want - but when they are on public roads, they have to stick to the speed limit". He also suggested that heavy goods vehicles might be fitted with special speed restriction devices and raised the idea of extra training courses for new drivers.
In addition to increasing road fines, the minister said he planned to implement measures to ensure penalties were paid promptly.
"The association representing justices of the peace raised this particular problem," he said.
"We have to ensure that the fines are actually paid because there are a vast number of cases in which people use truly despicable subterfuge in order to avoid paying up".
The minister's proposals were welcomed by the former public works minister who introduced Italy's first 110 km/h motorway speed limit in the late 1980s.
"We're paying too high a price in terms of road accidents," said Enrico Ferri. "Even though we are now more aware of the problem than we were a few years back, we cannot close our eyes to the high number of deaths".
But Paolo Ugge, a member of the centre-right opposition and a former junior transport minister, attacked Bianchi. He suggested the proposals were merely a publicity stunt, timed to coincide with the summer holiday period when the number of road accidents soars as thousands set out on vacation.
He was particularly critical of the minister's goals to slow down heavy goods vehicles, pointing out they were responsible for "just 7% of accidents on Italian roads". The consumer association ADUC also questioned whether Bianchi's proposals would address the real cause of accidents, which they attributed to "poor road maintenance and signposting".
According to ADUC, just 40% of accidents are caused by drivers failing to respect the highway code, while 60% are the result of administration shortfallings. The most recent study by national statistics institute ISTAT suggests that 91.1% of road accidents in Italy in 2004 are caused by driver error.
The report also found there are an average of 614 road accidents in Italy each day, in which 15 people die and a further 867 are injured.
