Nowhere out of ten he puts it in the front, but just one in three in the back. The seat beltalthough it has been mandatory by law for some time now, however, it has not yet become automatic. Or rather, if it can be said that most people wear them up front, as soon as you move to the back seats the habit vanishes. Not only that, because there’s worse: almost one parent in five admits that they do not use or use child seats incorrectly. These two big holes in Italian road safety were brought into focus by the latest survey by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità conducted between 2023 and 2024.
Road safety: seat belts and seats, Italy still careless
The data comes from system “Steps”a surveillance network that has been monitoring how Italians live and behave in their daily lives for years. AND regarding road safety, the results cannot be said to be exciting. On the issue of seat belts, a clear contradiction emerges: in the front almost everyone protects themselves, in the back and when it comes to the little ones things change a lot. As if the danger diminishes depending on where you sit. Unfortunately, however, in the event of an accident the laws of physics do not make too many distinctions. The numbers speak for themselves: 87% of adults say they always fasten their seat belt when sitting in the front, but the percentage drops to 34% for the rear seats. For children, 17% of those traveling with them confess that they do not use child seats correctly or do not have them at all.
North and South: two Italys also on the road
In this case too, the geographical differences tell of a country that is still divided. In the North, more than half of people, 54%, regularly use the rear seat belt, while in the South the percentage drops to 18%. In practice, almost three out of four people travel unprotected in the back seats. Different story for motorcycle helmets: here the situation is decidedly betterwith 96% of motorcyclists always wearing it. Even in this case, however, the territorial gap emerges: ranging from 93% in the South to 98% in the North.
Rear seat belts and child seats, Italians still distracted: two out of three do not protect themselves (Getty)
Children: seats still neglected, but something is moving
The most worrying data, however, concerns the little ones. As we have seen, at a national level, almost one in five parents who travels with children, does not use child seats or adapters correctly, and often does not even have them at all. This too, the situation in the South it gets worse, because here it is almost one in four. The good news is that things are improving. In 2011, those who did not adequately protect children in cars, again at a national level, were 24% at a national level, today we have dropped to 17%. Seven percentage points less representing thousands of more protected children.
Drinking and driving is not a thing of the past
There’s also bad news about alcohol when you get behind the wheel: six people out of a hundred confess to having driven after drinking at least once in the last thirty days. It may seem like little, but translated into absolute numbers it means hundreds of thousands of Italians who take risks and make others risk. The phenomenon also affects very young people: 5% of eighteen-twenty-one year olds have driven under the influence of alcohol. The group most at risk is between 25 and 34 years old (7%)while men are more exposed than women: 7% versus 3%.
Road safety: small gestures that save lives
Fastening a seat belt, placing a child in a car seat, leaving the keys with a friend who hasn’t drunk after a night out, they are simple, almost banal gestures, but they save lives. Despite this, the data shows that they have not yet entered the DNA of all Italians. The “Passi” survey depicts a country that is improving, but still far from truly safe behaviour. Good habits grow, but too slowly. And while we discuss new technologies and increasingly intelligent cars, the fact remains that most accidents could be avoided with basic attention. The experts from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità repeat it: continuous education, checks and awareness campaigns are needed that do not limit themselves to frightening or punishing, but they help to understand why certain precautions are not optional. Because on the road, behind or in front it makes little difference: the risk is the same for everyone.