Naples – A wave of tickets for driving while holding a cell phone is creating administrative chaos in Campania, with prefectures inundated with requests and unable to meet the legal deadlines for notifying license suspensions.
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The Carabinieri, with an often excessive approach, have indiscriminately fined numerous motorists, even when the telephone was not in use, contributing to clogging up an already fragile system and penalizing citizens who, in many cases, could have simply been warned.
Blanket reports: when zeal overcomes common sense
In recent months, the Carabinieri of Campania have intensified road controls, enforcing Article 173 of the Highway Code, which prohibits the use of telephones while driving. However, many drivers have been fined and had their licenses revoked just for having a phone in their hand, without actively using it.
"I was stopped at a traffic light, with my phone in my hand checking a message, but I wasn't using it while driving.”, says a driver from Salerno. “They suspended my license without even listening to me".
Situations like this have multiplied, with sanctions that, according to many, could be replaced by a simple verbal warning, especially in the absence of real danger.
Prefectures in crisis: late ordinances and drivers at random
The result of this excessive zeal is an overload of work for the Prefectures of Campania. According to the law, when the Carabinieri withdraw a license, they must send it to the Prefecture within 5 days, and the Prefecture has 15 days to issue and notify the suspension order to the driver.
However, the huge amount of tickets has caused the system to crash: the ordinances are not issued within the expected timeframes, and many motorists do not receive any communication.
"20 days have passed and I have not heard anything”, a reader from Naples writes to us. “I had to go to the Prefecture in person to understand what was happening.".
Fortunately, for many, the visit to the Prefecture ended with good news: if the order is not issued within the 15 days foreseen, the suspension lapses, and the license is returned.I came home with my license, but I missed a day of work”, complains another driver from Caserta.
A similar case was reported in Treviso in January 2025, where a professional had not received notification of suspension for weeks due to delays in the Prefecture's IT systems, a problem that now appears to be repeated in Campania on a larger scale.
The positive note is the staff of the Prefecture of Naples who proved to be competent and helpful solving the problem in a few minutes and returning the license without any further hassle. This confirms how important it is to have common sense in trying to limit unnecessary inconveniences to the citizen.
A problem of common sense and responsibility
This situation highlights a lack of balance on the part of law enforcement, particularly the Carabinieri, in managing violations. Sanctioning indiscriminately, without distinguishing between those who represent a real danger and those who could simply be reprimanded, clogs up the administrative system.
Of course the law is the law and must be respected, but without ever losing sight of the measure that must never be taken lightly, because it is one thing to sanction with a report, it is another thing to withdraw an important document such as a driving licence which for many is an indispensable work tool.
Furthermore, a rigid application creates unnecessary inconveniences for citizens and a further distrust in the Carabinieri, which in many situations always proves to be an ally and point of reference for the population. The Prefectures, already struggling with limited resources, are unable to manage the flow of reports, obviously leaving drivers in a bureaucratic limbo.
Those who enforce the law should have the ability to assess the circumstances and understand who is in front of them: a distracted driver who chats while driving is not the same as someone who is holding his phone in his hand while stopped at a traffic light. Clogging up the system with unnecessary reports only makes things worse, as demonstrated by the delays of the Prefectures and the complaints of citizens forced to go back and forth to get their documents back.
A system to be reviewed
The chaos in Campania is a wake-up call: a more humane and sensible approach is needed; we cannot limit ourselves to a rigid and blind application of the rules. At the same time, the Prefectures must be provided with adequate resources to manage the procedures within the expected timeframes, avoiding leaving citizens in uncertainty. Until then, episodes like these will continue to generate frustration, demonstrating that, sometimes, too much zeal can do more harm than good.
Article published on May 11, 2025 - 13:08 pm
