Road homicide occurs when road traffic rules are violated through negligent behaviour, causing the death of an individual.
This crime was recently introduced in Italy in 2016, with three different penalties depending on the type of severity:
- Whoever causes the death of a person as a result of a breach of rules on road traffic shall be punished with imprisonment from 2 to 7 years.
- Whoever causes the death of a person in the course of alcoholic intoxication (alcohol level above 1.5 g/l) or psycho-physical alteration due to narcotic substances is punished with imprisonment from 8 to 12 years;
- Whoever causes the death of a person in the course of alcoholic intoxication for a lower alcohol level than the previous one (between 0.8 and 1.5 g/l) is punished with imprisonment from 5 to 10 years.
The law also provides for other cases of road homicide, in which the penalty is increased, and which generally concern the violation of the permitted speed, the lack of a driving license and particular types of vehicles. Specifically, in the case of the death of more than one person, the penalty is increased by up to three times.
The law also provides that the penalty is reduced by half in the case of contributory negligence for a road accident.
In addition to imprisonment, the general consequence of road homicide is certainly the revocation of the driving licence, which can be suspended even while the trial is still in progress.
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