The updated Highway Code, expected to be approved by mid-October, will impose fines starting at €75 for “smartphone zombies” – pedestrians using a mobile phone – distracted at street crossings.
Italy is preparing to introduce fines for pedestrians caught using their phones while crossing the street, as part of a broader overhaul of the country’s Highway Code aimed at improving road safety.
Minimum 75-euro fine for distracted crossings
Under draft legislation being finalised by the Ministry of Transport and expected to be approved by mid-October, pedestrians who use a mobile phone while crossing a road will face a minimum fine of €75. The rule is designed to target the moment of highest risk, the act of crossing itself, rather than phone use in general.
Officials say the measure responds to growing concern over pedestrians distracted by their devices, who put both themselves and drivers at risk. It also follows a series of Italian court rulings that have placed blame for road accidents on inattentive pedestrians rather than solely on motorists.
Not a blanket phone ban
The government has been at pains to stress the rule is narrowly targeted rather than a wholesale crackdown on phone use in public. Pedestrians will remain free to use their phones while walking on pavements or when stationary, the restriction applies specifically to the act of crossing a road.
The ban also extends beyond phones to other electronic devices, including laptops, tablets and digital cameras, if used while crossing. Hands-free phone conversations remain permitted, as does the use of headphones or earphones, provided the wearer can still adequately hear their surroundings in both ears. Genuine emergencies are also exempted.
Draft provisions of the updated code, details of which have been published in the Italian press, go further still, stipulating that pedestrians must ensure an approaching driver has seen them and intends to stop before stepping into the road. They must also not dawdle once crossing has begun.
Part of a wider Highway Code overhaul
The pedestrian phone rule sits within a broader package of changes to Italy’s road rules. The updated code is also expected to introduce tougher penalties for drivers caught using mobile phones behind the wheel, with fines of up to €2,588 for repeat offenders and licence suspensions of one to three months. Separate proposals to restrict driving for motorists aged 85 and over — limiting them to routes within 100km of home and barring them from motorways — were reportedly dropped after public criticism.
Italy would not be the first country to legislate against distracted crossing. Lithuania introduced similar fines in 2018, while Honolulu became one of the first cities in the world to enforce such rules in 2017, followed by Yamato City in Japan in 2020. Several municipalities in the United States, including Montclair in California, have introduced comparable local ordinances in recent years.
last year, Italy banned students from using mobile phones in the classroom.
