It used to be much easier when there were fewer kinds of vehicles, but now Italy has taken on the task of deciding who drives or rides where, with new rules for cars, small scooters, big scooters, kick scooters, Segways, skateboards and all the rest of the non-pedestrian crowd.
In a first step, more scooters—the kind you sit on—will be off the sidewalk and into the street as the new rules set the line between big and small at 120cc or 11kW instead of 150cc. Drivers under 18, though, will still be on the sidewalk.
A draft approved by the parliamentary transport committee also calls for speed limits for new devices such as hoverboards, electric kick scooters, one-wheel scooters and Segways at a maximum of 6km/h in urban areas. In another change, rollerblades, skateboards and kick scooters would be allowed in bicycle and pedestrian lanes.
Other changes include tougher penalties for driving while texting or using a laptop at the wheel, and slowdown rules on designated school streets.
