It wasn't vandals or a sudden breakdown that disabled the pedestrian crossing light on Viale Marconi at the intersection with Via Fermi in Quartu . Instead, the disruption was caused by a car crashing into the light, knocking it down.
The car did it all by itself. Parked in the lot in front of some businesses, the driver had left it without the handbrake, and so it started to move, ending up at the traffic light .
Luckily, however, because if the vehicle hadn't encountered the obstacle of the system, it would have ended up on the cars travelling along Viale Marconi.
The accident occurred shortly before noon, during heavy traffic in the area. Local police officers arrived on the scene and reconstructed the exact circumstances. The driver will now have to pay insurance for the damage to the traffic light.
This isn't the first time traffic lights and lampposts have been damaged following accidents. Just think of the poles knocked down on the four-lane Poetto highway or the wooden fence destroyed several times along the Lungosaline promenade on Viale Colombo. Some time ago, the railing overlooking Margine Rosso beach was completely destroyed when a car sped into it. The driver later tested positive for alcohol.