Italy's Crackdown on Phone-Using Pedestrians Tests Molise's Narrow Streets

Italy's updated highway code will target pedestrians who stare at their mobile phones while crossing the road, as the country's transport ministry strives to improve road safety by cracking down on distracted walkers, the Guardian reported this week. The draft code follows several court rulings that assigned blame for road accidents to careless pedestrians, according to the paper's Rome correspondent.

The proposed measure, part of a broader revision of the highway code, would impose fines on pedestrians who cross while using their phones. The Guardian noted the move is part of a wider effort to reduce road deaths and injuries, with the ministry arguing that distracted walking has become a significant hazard in urban areas.

For Molise, the rule may prove more than a bureaucratic formality. The region's hill towns, with their medieval layouts, narrow lanes and blind corners, present a particular challenge for walkers and drivers alike. A pedestrian absorbed in a screen stepping out from behind a stone wall is a familiar risk in Campobasso's older quarters.