New Highway Code to come into force mid-Dec. before holidays

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 29 - A new Highway Code approved by parliament last week which stiffens penalties for using mobile phones at the wheel, driving under the influence and speeding was published in the Official Gazette on Friday, ANSA has learned.
    The new measures, aimed at curbing road accidents, will come into effect in mid-December ahead of the holidays.
    The legislations increases the penalties for using mobile phones while driving, with fines of between 250 and 1,000 euros and a driving ban of a week if you already have points in your licence.
    This can go up to a three-month ban and a fine of 1,400 euros for repeat offenders.
    The fines and bans double if the use of the telephone causes an accident.
    It will be possible for speeding fines to go up as high as 880 euros for people who break the speed limit inside cities twice a year or more and they face having their licence suspended for 15 to 30 days.
    The penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol goes from a fine of between 573 and 2,170 euros and a licence suspension of three to six months if the blood alcohol levels is between 0.5 and 0.8 grams per litre.
    People with blood alcohol levels between 0.8 and 1.5 grams per litre risk a fine of up to 3,200 euros, a driving ban of between six months and a year and a jail term of six months.
    If the level is over 1.5 grams, the fine can go as high as 6,000 euros, the driving ban up to two years and the jail term up to one year.
    People caught driving under the influence of drugs face bans of up to three years.
    Users of e-scooters will be obliged to wear helmets, have a number plate and get insurance - although subsequent legislation will set out the details on this.
    Under the new measure, people who abandon animals at a road side face losing their licences for between six months and a year.
    They also risk seven years in jail if an accident is caused by the abandoned animal. (ANSA).