A simple, obvious and respectful common sense position. This is capable of reconciling road safety, an obligation of the center-right government, with the need for citizens to be able to travel to reach their place of work or family. Matteo Salvini, who yesterday morning visited Viola Park, Fiorentina’s futuristic technical center, returned to the topic of the 30 km/h speed limit, imposed by the mayor of Bologna, dem Matteo Lepore. «I stand alongside all administrations to make difficult areas of cities safe, but I will not be part of an anti-car party because citizens go to work there. At the same time, I am against blocking an entire city with fines and limitations, but I agree to carry out some experiments on some dangerous streets.” «The experiences on some streets are good – specified the deputy prime minister – but fining those who go to work by car, even by bicycle, seems to me to be a meaningless ideology. I hope the mayor is willing to think, because I don’t want to argue with anyone, but I have a duty to protect the mobility of those who drive to work.”
That the leader of the League has always been an advocate of road safety is certainly nothing new. It is true that there are obvious differences between those who travel drunk, under the influence of drugs, distracted by live Instagram and those who, perhaps to complete an overtake, reach speeds of 37 kilometers per hour. However, this does not calm the echoes of controversy. Codacons announced that it intends to file an appeal with the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio “against any MIT directive that aims to prevent mayors from limiting the speed of cars in residential areas: with the appeal the ministry will also be asked for compensation of 500,000 euros for a illegitimate act, to be paid to the traffic victims fund”. The risk that the right to hear the birdsong of Bologna ends up on paper in some court is just around the corner.
During his visit to Viola Park, accompanied by the leader of the Florence municipality group, Federico Bussolin, deputy Andrea Barabotti and MEP Susanna Ceccardi, Matteo Salvini spared no criticism of mayor Dario Nardella. In front of the interested gaze of the mayor of Bagno a Ripoli (a municipality located on the outskirts of the Tuscan capital, where Fiorentina’s technical center is located), Francesco Casini and the general director of Viola, Joe Barone. «It seems to me that the money in the budget is not enough to do everything in Franchi that should be done in Franchi, it seems clear to me that a large part of the city is asking for correct and quick answers, I reiterate that I make myself available to the company and the administration municipal to find a way out. If you have to spend public money, don’t spend it to do things halfway. You can’t cover one part of the stadium and let it rain on the other. So it’s better not to start. Having Serie A and Serie B fans in the same stadium would seem to me to be spending public money in a curious way. I don’t think it’s conceivable that Fiorentina will play in other regions or other cities for a few years.”
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
