Italian senate passes ‘road murder’ law

All road collisions that result in death or serious injury will be treated by police as an indictable offence, and those convicted will be subject to much tougher sentencing after a new ‘road murder’ law was passed by the Italian Senate last month.

The new law, which has taken several years to pass all the necessary legal hurdles, could mean 12 years in prison for drivers found guilty of killing while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The first arrest under the new law was reported at the end of March. A 37 year old man was arrested after a fatal collision; the man was understood to have been driving despite having his license revoked in 2011.