The obscene amount of vehicles pumping out noxious fumes in Italy

[lombardia2007]

I'm sick (sometimes literally feel sick) with the obscene amount of vehicles pumping out noxious fumes in Italy. It seems obvious that they must be illegal and highly dangerous to people and the environment, but nothing seems to be done about them.

Living in the far north, where standards are probably stricter and higher than the 'lax' south, I'm probably a lot better off than a lot of people in somewhere like Naples, for example, but it's still bad enough!

Crossing the nearby Swiss border into Switzerland results in a much cleaner and healthier air pollution situation, with a lot less (cigarette) smokers to boot, which is always a bonus.

I know Switzerland's know as being a 'clean' country, but in Italy, the blue-tinted petrol fumes and black diesel fumes spewing out of everything from mopeds, to those little 3 wheeler 'goods vehicles' to larger more industrial vehicles, like builder's flat bed trucks is ridiculous

[Relaxed]

Hang about - fags are much cheaper in Switzerland than even in Italy!

But - as to vehicles belching nasty smoke - is it true that this is a bigger problem in Italy than elsewhere? I cannot say I had noticed.

[lombardia2007]

Originally Posted by Relaxed

Hang about - fags are much cheaper in Switzerland than even in Italy!

But - as to vehicles belching nasty smoke - is it true that this is a bigger problem in Italy than elsewhere? I cannot say I had noticed.

lol about the price of cigarettes, but from my experience the main people smoking in say Lugano, in the south of Switzerland, are the Italians, and the Swiss themselves don't seem to chain smoke like the Italians do - I've certainly noticed a lot less public smoking going on in Switzerland - all over Switzerland - than in Italy.

Regarding vehicles, compared to the UK and the Netherlands for example, there are a lot more highly polluting vehicles in Italy. The worst offenders in the UK are in the 'ghetto-style' areas, where a lot of the vehicles (and drivers!) are going around illegally, but in Italy there seems to be a much higher proportion generally of vehicles pumping out noxious fumes.

This is particularly noticable when they are driving uphill and the engines are more strained - it's so bad in fact that I have to wear a mask when riding my bike up hills with a fair bit of traffic - as cyclists do on the heavily polluted streets of London. It causes a lot of funny looks I can tell you! However, if I don't wear the mask, then I get terribly sore lungs from the fumes, and obviously give myself cancer in the long term.

How these polluting vehicles pass the local equivalent of the MOT is beyond me; although I don't know what the standard is for a pass, the EU must have ruled it must be above a certain amount, and there's no way a lot of these vehicles would pass - they must know a garage owner who gives them a fraudulent certificate is all I can think of!

[Nielo]

Lombardia2007, the air where I live is beautifully clear and unpoluted, there is very little traffic and I have not noticed vehicles here to be worse than anywhere else, perhaps you have chosen the wrong place to live?

[Carole B]

How these polluting vehicles pass the local equivalent of the MOT is beyond me; although I don't know what the standard is for a pass, the EU must have ruled it must be above a certain amount, and there's no way a lot of these vehicles would pass - they must know a garage owner who gives them a fraudulent certificate is all I can think of!

All vehicles after 3 years undergo a 'Revisione'. Thereafter it is every 2 years. These are done by Government controlled authorised Centri di Revisione. The tests include lights, brakes, tyres, seat belts, identification numbers on the vehicle AND a very strict gas emissions test wher their test machine is hooked up to the exhaust pipe and you have to run the engine at a variety of revs (while stationary) for several minutes.

You are expected to run yout car on their 'rolling road' while they measure braking power and handbrake efficiency at the different speeds they set on the road.

Then IF all is OK you are issued with your 'blue sticker' for the windscreen and the documentation which must be attached to your log book. If the car fails you must take it to a qualified repairer of your choice and then return to them for a re-test.
>REVISIONE DETAILS<

The problem with their system is the two year gap between tests for cars.

[jackie C]

The worst offenders in the UK are in the 'ghetto-style' areas, where a lot of the vehicles (and drivers!) are going around illegally

Where are these "Ghetto style" (or should that be Ghetto Stylie) areas and are their vehicles really any more polluting than the Chelsea Tractors!!

Jackie

[lombardia2007]

Nielo, it's good to hear you're enjoying some fresh air there. Since my girlfriend lives in the Como area, it wasn't exactly through choice that I selected this area to move to.


CaroleB, there's the problem - 2 years is a long time - a lot of these vehicles engine's/exhaust systems must be on their last legs and 2 years going around spewing out blue petrol fumes or black diesel fumes is a lot time, and a heavy toll on people's lungs and the environment.

I'm also sure that there is corruption in the Revisione test centres, as there is at UK MOT centres, only more so in Italy where bending the rules is a way of life for many.


jackieC - there are 'ghetto style areas' in every city in the UK - the inner city areas where there is a high level of poverty. I refer to them as ghettoes, because that's what they are nowadays - areas where no or very little money is invested in them, the people who are financially able to move out do so, and the council fills the empty houses with immigrants who send all their extra money to their country of origin rather than investing it in the local area, or very poor local people on various benefits.

I've been a city dweller before coming here, with only brief stints in more rural areas, and have seen the huge amounts of cheap cars in poor condition being driven around these poor 'ghetto' areas...and smelled the fumes too! 1 year between MOTs is also a long time when you consider how much filth these old bangers are pumping out in that time, and of course they're either kept on the road with dodgy MOTs after that, or scrapped and replaced with another polluting banger.

[PennyWhite]

Perhaps in the north there is more industry and more industrial type vehicles pumping out stuff?
Cigarette ban about to hit England at the weekend, already in France etc, what word of Italy, or would that be too much to expect ?!

[Dawn]

Penny,

Are you referring to Smoking in Italy, there has been a smoking ban in public places for two yeras.

Dawn.

[lombardia2007]

Originally Posted by PennyWhite

Perhaps in the north there is more industry and more industrial type vehicles pumping out stuff?
Cigarette ban about to hit England at the weekend, already in France etc, what word of Italy, or would that be too much to expect ?!

Hi Penny,

Yes it's true the north is more industrialised, but I'd bet there's a big problem with pollution from vehicles in Rome, Naples and other areas too.

I'm very happy about the cigarette ban in the UK - about time, and there's been a ban in Italy for almost 2 and a half years now - since the beginning of January 2005.

The thing you've got to watch out for is if you sit outside a restuarant to have a meal, many people will light up cigarettes, because they can't do inside anymore. Also, city streets are full of cafe and shop workers standing outside the door smoking, so it's just moved the problem around.

However, the ban has apparently reduced the tobacco consumption in Italy by 8% (bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/331/7526/1159-a/DC1)

I think the UK has the right idea about making tobacco prices high, as it means less people smoke. If tobacco was as expensive here, I'm sure it would help the health of many people. Determined and cunning smokers, on a low income, will buy from the black market, but the majority of the normal population would think twice about spending 8 Euro on a packet of 20 cigarettes, as is the case in the UK now.

All-in-all, I'm still happy to be able to go into a cafe or restaurant without getting bombarded by smoke, as was the case pre-2005!