The ISTAT figures on road accidents in 2017 serve as a warning on the need for a higher level of road safety and greater awareness of responsible driving behaviour. This is because the number of road fatalities rose in 2017: +95, or +2.9%.

Overall, last year there were 174,933 road accidents involving personal injury, down slightly from 2016, with 3,378 fatalities and 246,750 injuries.

According to ISTAT, the increase in the number of deaths in Italy was mainly due to the increase in the number of deaths on motorways (including ring roads and motorway junctions) and non-urban roads (296 and 1,615 deaths; +8.0% and +4.5% over the previous year). A smaller increase was recorded on urban roads (1,467 deaths; +0.3%). However, in the large municipalities the trend is the opposite, with a 5.8% decrease in the number of victims in built-up areas.

The number of victims among pedestrians (600, +5.3%) and, above all, motorcyclists (735, +11.9%) increased, while the figures for motorists (1,464, -0.4%) were more or less stable and those for moped riders (92, -20.7%) and cyclists (254, -7.6%) were down.

In 2017, once again, speeding, failure to use compulsory safety equipment and the use of mobile phones while driving were the most frequently penalised traffic offences.