A long-planned reform of the Italian Highway Code that will see driving laws and penalties toughened in a bid to cut road deaths is set to come into force on Saturday, December 14th, after being approved by parliament last month.
Under the reform, motorists on Italian roads will face harsher rules in relation to a number of offences, including DUI, mobile phone use and speed limit violations.
But the bill will also change existing regulations on the types of vehicles newly licensed drivers (or neopatentati in Italian) are allowed to drive.
Some readers of The Local have recently asked us to clarify the upcoming changes, outlining how they will affect people getting their Italian driving licence (patente) after December 14th.
What’s actually changing?
Current Highway Code rules state that new drivers are banned from driving vehicles with a power-to-weight ratio of over 55 kilowatts per ton and with an engine power exceeding 70 kilowatts (about 94 horsepower) for the first 12 months from the date they get their licence.
This forces neopatentati to drive relatively small, low-power cars (for instance, compact city cars) for a full year. You can see a list of some of the types of vehicles available to new drivers under current (pre-reform) rules here.
But the existing vehicle restrictions are set to change from December 14th as part of the latest reform.
Under the upcoming changes, new drivers will be able to hop behind the wheel of more powerful cars – vehicles with a power-to-weight ratio of up to 75 kilowatts per ton and with an engine power of up to 105 kilowatts (around 141 horsepower).
However, they’ll have to wait three years from the date they got their Italian licence before they can switch to high-power cars (i.e. any vehicle with a power-to-weight ratio of over 75 kilowatts per ton and with an engine power exceeding 105 kilowatts).
Essentially, the latest reform will give neopatentati access to a wider range of vehicles, including some types of SUVs and family saloons, but will keep them from driving high-power cars for three years as opposed to one.
It’s worth noting here that the changes won't be retroactive.
This means that motorists who got their licence before the reform’s official enforcement date (December 14th) will continue to be subject to the Highway Code previous rules.
The new rules will only apply to people getting their patente after December 14th.
What are the penalties for flouting vehicle power restrictions?
Newly licensed drivers caught driving vehicles that exceed the power threshold face a fine ranging from €165 to €660, as well as a driving ban of up to eight months.
Why is this relevant for foreign nationals in Italy?
Non-EU nationals in Italy have one year from the date they register as residents to obtain an Italian licence.
Italy has driving licence agreements with a number of non-EU countries (find a full list here), which mean that their citizens can swap their licence for an Italian one without having to take an Italian driving test.
But if you're originally from a non-EU country that doesn’t have a bilateral agreement with Italy (for instance, the US, Canada and Australia), you’ll need to take a driving test to get an Italian licence.
And after you get your Italian licence (this may be no easy task as the theory quiz requires quite a bit of technical knowledge and cannot be taken in English), you’ll be subject to vehicle power restrictions as a new licence holder.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: What's in the Italian driving theory test?
This means that, though you may have years or decades of driving experience in your home country, you’ll still have to drive low- to medium-power vehicles for the first three years after getting your licence.
What other restrictions do new drivers face?
Besides vehicle restrictions, the Italian Highway Code sets out additional limitations for new drivers. These will remain unchanged after the reform comes into effect.
They include a requirement not to exceed 100km/h on motorways (autostrade) and 90km/h on main extra-urban roads (strade extraurbane principali, also known as superstrade), as well as zero tolerance for blood alcohol content (the limit stands at 0.5 grams per litre for other drivers).
Furthermore, new licence holders are subject to harsher point deduction rules, as the number of points taken away for major violations is automatically doubled.
For instance, new drivers exceeding the speed limit by more than 10 km/h but no more than 40 km/h face a six-point deduction as opposed to a three-point one.
All of the restrictions listed in this section apply for three years following the issuance of your Italian licence.
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