When a personal incident becomes public policy, the outcome is rarely without consequences. Residents and visitors to the picturesque Italian town of Como are facing a radical change in urban mobility after the local administration decided to fundamentally reorganize the rules of the pedestrian zone.
From this fall, cycling on a total of 30 key arteries in the historic heart of the city will become completely illegal. Anyone who dares to pass through these areas on a two-wheeled vehicle will have to get off and push it on foot. The official position of the authorities is based on the need to ensure pedestrian safety, but behind the strict regulatory framework lies a far more subjective reason.
The initiator of the drastic measure is the mayor Alessandro Rapinese himself, whose motive turns out to be directly related to a recent experience of his. The mayor was hit by a fast-moving electric bicycle - a precedent that quickly escalated into a regulatory decision. Rapinese does not even try to hide the subjective instigator of his actions, openly stating that management decisions naturally stem from personal experience and that he personally felt the danger of such a collision.
As expected, the decision caused serious resistance among the public and the political opposition in the city. Local residents define the mayor's actions as a classic manifestation of personal vendetta and direct abuse of power. The discontent quickly took on an organized character, with signatures already being collected for an official petition, and cycling organizations preparing mass protest marches.
However, the problem of micromobility safety remains global and goes far beyond the borders of Como. The massive trend of electric bicycles, driven mainly by courier services for fast delivery, daily calls into question compliance with traffic rules. Statistical studies of video surveillance systems in a number of European and Asian cities show a similar worrying trend - a huge percentage of drivers of two-wheeled vehicles systematically ignore pedestrian rights and speed limits, thereby deepening the conflict between pedestrians and cyclists.