Italian law on the vehicular homicide: medical legal issues and comparative analysis

Law no. 41/2016, enacted after a parliamentary debate characterized by a strong media pressure, intends to give a strong response to the growing social alarm caused by road accidents causing deaths. In this perspective, it introduced the categories of road homicide and road injuries within the Penal Code and the new hypotheses of mandatory and facultative arrest in flagrante delicto. This paper aims at comparing the rules by which the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany and Italy protect people's lives and safety of vehicular traffic in order to highlight strengths and weaknesses with a view to future reforms. A survey on the European legislature highlights that, while other countries tend to criminally sanction several dangerous driving conducts, Italy has preferred, on the one hand, to punish only with administrative sanctions some violations related to reckless driving (with the exception of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs) and, on the other, to provide for particularly harsh prison sentences in the case of vehicular homicide. The authors criticize this approach and other aspects of the new law. Moreover, it seems that the legislator's aim has not been achieved because traffic accidents have not decreased. They also believe that better results could be obtained by increasing controls on the roads and developing a policy of economical investments which improves road safety.