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13 November 2019From 15 November to 15 April the obligation to fit winter tires / four seasons or, alternatively, to have snow chains on board is triggered; but do Italians respect this rule? According to the survey commissioned by Facile.it to mUp Research and Norstat, carried out on a representative sample of the Italian patented population, in the last year 1.2 million motorists have driven without equipping themselves with the devices required by law.

What are the reasons? Over 471,000 motorists (8% of those who traveled without the appropriate safety measures for tires) admitted that they had simply forgotten; the male sample is more 'forgetful' than the female one, given that among men the percentage rises to 11%, against 5% of women. The figure also shows that 397 thousand people (7%) said they did nothing because "they could not afford to buy snow chains or winter tires / four seasons". The most worrying figure, however, is that of the 347,000 motorists (6%) who in the last year, although aware of the obligation and also in the presence of the appropriate road signs, have preferred to do nothing as they "believed they the use of these safety devices is of little use ".

"In addition to the obvious risks in terms of safety and possible administrative sanctions - the survey continues - traveling by car on roads that require the use of snow chains, winter tires or four seasons without being equipped with them entails risks. also from the insurance point of view. In the event of an accident, if the accident had been caused or aggravated by the absence of mandatory equipment, the company could apply the right to compensation on the insured and request a refund of the sums paid to the damaged third parties " .

It should be noted that the obligation to fit winter tires or have snow chains on board during the period indicated by the law is valid only for those roads where the entity that owns the section has prescribed this obligation by means of a specific order and signage.

More generally, the number of motorists potentially at risk of a fine this year could even be wider. To the question "how do you behave before leaving for a car trip outside your city, although one person out of two has declared to verify in advance the presence of ordinances that require the use of winter tires or chains on board, they are still many, more than 1.7 million, motorists who put themselves safely at the wheel without being in compliance with the law, evidently none of them is upset either by the safety risks or by the size of the sanctions to which they are exposed since the fine goes from 85 to 338 euros.

How do virtuous motorists behave and what are the preferences of those who, over the past year, have got behind the wheel following the indications of the law? The most common choice was to mount winter tires; 34% did, which is 12.6 million drivers. A solution particularly used in the regions of the North-West, where the percentage rises to 56% (compared to 16% in the South and on the Islands). In second place are the four-season tires, mounted by 25.3% of Italians, ie almost 9.5 million drivers; slightly less, 9.3 million (25%), instead, chose to transport snow chains, a solution particularly appreciated in the regions of Central Italy (where the percentage rises to 35%).