The mayor of the Italian city of Como has announced a ban on all bicycles after he was hit by a cyclist outside his office earlier this summer.
Alessandro Rapinese, an independent politician first elected mayor in 2022, explained the decision to the Italian news agency Ansa, saying, “People act based on their own experiences and I know what it’s like to be hit by one of these beasts.”
“I’ve been accused of adopting this measure because I was hit by an electric bike – certainly, that is true.
“Two years ago we decided to regulate access to the ZTL (Low Traffic Zone) for couriers. Then in mid-July, just when the council was discussing the resolution, I leave City Hall and was knocked down by an electric bicycle. There I realised that, for the safety of pedestrians, we also had to regulate access of electric bikes.”
> Italy’s Deputy PM Salvini backpedals on number plates for cyclists – “It’s just for scooters”
Rapinese added that he had chosen to introduce a blanket ban, “since the Highway Code prohibits discrimination between normal and electric bikes,” but insisted that he was convinced by the merits of his proposal having taken a similar approach to electric scooters in the city.
“I think it’s madness to have required scooter owners to insure their vehicle and equip it with a license plate, but not to have done it for bicycles which are perhaps even more dangerous”.
Local politicians in Lombardy have already stated their opposition to the ban, which comes into force next month. A mass bike ride in protest of the ban is planned on 12th September, culminating in a demonstration in front of the mayor’s office.
The Nova Como cultural association, which is organising the protest, said in a statement, “The [mayor’s] resolution introduces an area of maximum protection where bicycles and scooters will only be able to move [on foot], 24 hours a day. A measure that stems from a single episode — an accident with an e-bike for high-speed deliveries — but becomes a permanent restriction on all citizens who travel by bicycle [while] respecting the rules.
“Nova Como does not dispute the need for rules for pedestrians and cyclists to co-exist in the historic [city] centre. We contest the method: no prior consultation with residents, businesses or organisations, no evaluation of the impact on those who use the bicycle every day for work, study or family.
“It is the usual reflex of [the mayor’s] administration that, instead of dealing with the city’s real critical issues, they see problems where there are none and acts disproportionately – mistaking the resolution for the solution, and the citizen for a problem to be contained.”
Rapinese announced the proposal alongside a raft of other measures aimed at making the historic city more “liveable”, including new restricted hours for vans and lorries to enter the city centre to load and unload, with a new permit scheme also created for vehicles to gain access. However, QuiComo report those proposals have also been criticised for a lack of consultation with local businesses.
Meanwhile The Guardian report that the mayor, 50, seems unlikely to change his mind, adding “In other cities, a child goes to hospital and then the politicians take action. Here, I didn’t even end up in hospital. I was hit by a bike, I gathered information and that’s where this measure comes from.”