For a few days the people of enthusiasts of the off roadwhether by means 4×4, motorbike Or Mountain bike (including electric bikes), in turmoil, due to a decree published on December 1 in the Official Journal.
Taking a step back, this is an implementing decree for a 2018 law relating to the management of the agricultural sector. The passage of the decree that caused concern is what can be read in paragraph 3 of article 2, which reads as follows:
“Irrespective of the title of ownership, forest and silvo-pastoral viability and related works as defined in the following art. 3 are prohibited for ordinary transit and are not subject to the provisions deriving from articles 1 and 2 of Legislative Decree 30 April 1992, n. 285″
This wording, in the usual bureaucratic parlance, effectively means that off-road traffic is not subject to the highway code, and prohibit the passage to anyone, also to all owners of the area in question. This is obviously a literal interpretation, but it effectively prohibits any vehicle from crossing these areas. It would therefore be goodbye to excursions with all-terrain vehiclesas well as the passage by motorbike or mountain bike along the paths in the countryside and in the woods.
Waiting A petition has already started online under the title “Repeal of the law prohibiting the passage of vehicles on natural surface roads”, addressed to the Ministers who signed the decree, including the already highly criticized Roberto Cingolani. Here is the text accompanying the petition, which currently has more than 13,000 signatures:
“The amendment that modifies the Highway Code n. 2, n. 3 and n. 194 in fact prohibits the circulation of all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles and cars, on natural surface roads with a width of less than 2 .5 meters. This law destroys a sector of enormous economic, tourist, sporting and social value. Italy is the most important market in Europe in the motorcycle sector, there are several Italian manufacturers of motorcycles, d accessories and off-road clothing, the sector would lead to a shortage of around 140 million euros without counting all the related activities. Off-road tourism is the engine of the economy of thousands of small municipalities, far from the mass tourism roads, hotels, restaurants, bars, gas stations, mechanics and tire shops would see the disappearance of an important enduro, a sport practiced by tens of thousands of Italians, despite the fact that Italy currently holds the title team championship and that its champions are internationally recognized national. Another disaster would be social, indeed enduro is a sport very followed by men and women of all ages, the vast majority do not participate in competitions, but enjoy the wonders of Italy moving with motorcycles in compliance with all regulations in force, on natural surfaced roads which represent 70% of the total Italian road network. This last figure must be taken into consideration because a ban of this magnitude would limit the free movement of citizens on Italian soil as enshrined in the Constitution”.
Industry associations are already in contact with the government to understand whether this is simply a mistake, ignoring the possible implications, or whether the all-terrain vehicle was actually in the sights of ministers.