Road safety was the focus of the Vacanze Sicure 2025 (Safe Holidays 2025) campaign, promoted by the State Police in collaboration with Assogomme. Active in May and June, the campaign saw Traffic Police patrols involved in six Italian regions (Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Piedmont, Puglia, Tuscany and Aosta Valley), with a total of almost 10,000 vehicles inspected.
The results are not very encouraging: vehicle maintenance is neglected or absent, with serious consequences for road safety.
ACI data describes a car fleet – over 41 million vehicles – of which 59% are over 10 years old, while 1 in 4 vehicles are even more than 20 years old. Vehicles that would need constant attention and checks. What did the checks reveal?
- 1 in 5 vehicles have tire problems (bald tread, visible damage, lack of homologation)
- including irregular inspections, 1 in 4 vehicles are non-compliant
- among vehicles over 10 years old, non-compliance even rises to 1 in 3 cars
- visible damage stands at 5%
The percentage of bald tires remains constant at around 10% regardless of vehicle age, while the lack of inspection increases significantly with car age. That is, the older the car, the less it is checked.
Among the critical elements detected, heterogeneous equipment should be noted, i.e., the use of different tires on the same axle (different brands or models), or the combination of summer and winter tires mounted on the same car; a critical issue affecting 5.63 percent of the cars inspected. Bald tires, often low-cost or unevenly mounted, can apparently represent an economic saving, but they come at a cost in terms of durability, reliability, and safety.
The Vacanze Sicure campaign proves to be a very useful event for raising awareness among motorists to pay more attention, especially in view of summer departures. The objective is clear: to prevent road accidents and increase safety standards on our roads and highways, to ensure a peaceful journey for everyone.
Safety, and the safety of those traveling with you, begins with good maintenance!
