Nothing has changed in ten years. From 2014 to 2024, deaths on Sardinian roads increased from 98 to 113, and the trend shows no signs of reversing. This is the most worrying finding to emerge from the Cagliari Mobility Lab conference, where experts, law enforcement, and associations gathered to discuss an unsolvable emergency.
"We have a rate more than double the national average," says Gianfranco Fancello of CIREM. "And there isn't even a minimal downward trend." Europe is calling for a 9% annual reduction, Italy is stuck at 2.16%, and Sardinia is going in the opposite direction. The causes are structural: no alternative to the car, inadequate infrastructure, the 131 highway being out of service for thirty years, and behavioral. Nearly one accident a day occurs on the median highway.
The primary cause isn't alcohol or drugs: it's distraction, and cell phones in particular. "Fines for using a cell phone while driving mostly affect those over 40," emphasizes Floriana La Mattina of the Highway Patrol.
On the substance front, a third of Italians have used narcotics in their lifetime, and 18% of young people use psychotropic drugs without a prescription. The most alarming phenomenon is new synthetic substances, or NPS: "In 2024, 47 new ones were identified," says Andrea Spanu, Chief Medical Officer at the Police Headquarters. "Those who take them are doing so in the dark."