La Spezia: Saturday Drive Night 25. Red Cross, SNA and Municipality together to fight Saturday night massacres

It's about to start for the sixth year consecutive the road safety education project of Red Cross of La Spezia, supported by the National Union of Insurance Agents (SNA) and from Municipality of La Spezia.

Building on the success of previous editions, the initiative aimed at young people from La Spezia this year introduces some new features and renews its image with a new name “Saturday Drive Night 25”.

THEobiettivo instead it always remains the same: prevent alcohol abuse during the nightlife evenings in the city centre and encourage responsible behavior before young people from La Spezia get behind the wheel, to achieve a significant reduction in road accidents and fines related to the abuse of psychotropic substances.

“Saturday Drive Night 25” It was presented by the Mayor Pierluigi Peracchini, from the Vice President of the Red Cross of La Spezia Fabio Dardengo, Roberto Bianchi e Titian Salerno of the National Union of Insurance Agents, by the Deputy Prefect Francis Paul Ramunni, from the Councillor for Security and Health Policies Giulio Guerri and by the young Councilor of the CRI Maria Mathilde Martinelli.

Like every year, during the nightlife evenings in the city centre, thanks to the commitment of 60 Young People from the Red Cross of La Spezia will be proposed to the kids of to undergo for free and completely anonymously to the alcohol test, to try to perform a test on the alertness of the reflexes and to participate in a “competitive quiz” to assess their level of awareness on the topic of road safety.

'S2025 edition a was also introduced news: young people who test negative to the breathalyzer test and will be tasked with safely escorting their friends home will be rewarded with a green bracelet and a free non-alcoholic drink in a bar in the center.

In addition to rewarding the virtuous behavior of the children, the aim of the initiative is to encourage them to nominate your own "Bob", a boy who purposely chooses not to drink alcohol in order to safely drive his friends home at the end of the night.

- screening (anonymous and free) organized by the CRI Youth will begin Saturday March 29 and will continue until October, for a total of ten evenings.

During the last edition of the project, out of a total of more than 1.100 breathalyser tests carried out, in one case out of four, those with a blood alcohol level higher than the legal limit for driving a vehicle declared that they would have driven anyway, with all the risks that this entails for himself and others.

Il project, launched in 2020 for the first time at a national level by the Red Cross of La Spezia, has achieved considerable success, so much so that it has been also replicated in other Italian cities such as Florence, Milano and Brescia.

Il Mayor of La Spezia Pierluigi Peracchini He declares: “We wholeheartedly support this initiative by the La Spezia Red Cross, aimed at raising awareness among young people about the dangers of alcohol abuse. Ensuring safe leisure opportunities is a priority, especially considering the growing prevalence of alcohol consumption among the new generations.

The Administration, through the intense work of the Local Police, constantly monitors the behavior of drivers, but it is essential that all institutions actively collaborate to combat this phenomenon and promote prevention, also through initiatives like this. I thank President De Angelis and the young volunteers for their constant commitment to an initiative that, year after year, offers food for thought and concrete results for the community”.

“As every year, our commitment to raise awareness among young people of La Spezia on the importance of road safety continues – declared the Vice President of the Red Cross of La Spezia, Fabio Dardengo - Thanks to the support of the National Union of Insurance Agents and the municipal administration, we are once again making the young people of La Spezia responsible with an activity that does not want to be repressive, but on the contrary, an approach and conviction "on equal terms", between young people of the same age. The results we have obtained in the previous editions, in terms of numbers and interest aroused among the young people, leave us with high hopes for the success of this sixth edition as well".

“The National Union of Agents - he claims Roberto Bianchi, editor in chief of the Snachannel and L'Agent di Assicurazione newspapers – stands by the Red Cross in promoting “Saturday Drive Night”, because it believes that every possible effort must be made to sensitize young people to adopt more respectful behaviors towards their own lives when they are driving their cars. The tragedy of the so-called “Saturday night massacres” continues despite the good intentions of the European institutions that have set themselves the goal of halving, by 2030, the number of deaths on the continent's roads.

The increase in sanctions provided for by the new Highway Code betrays the political belief that the right way to reduce the most serious violations is through repression. We are instead inclined to the thesis that, although necessary, they are not sufficient to reverse the trend and that educating young people can provide even more significant results”.

“The Prefecture of La Spezia warmly welcomes the Red Cross' road safety education project, aimed at young people from La Spezia and which, thanks to its success in the past, has now reached its sixth consecutive edition. – underlines the Deputy Prefect, Francis Paul Ramunni.

In fact, the Prefecture has among its main institutional objectives the safety of citizens, both because the Prefect is the provincial public safety authority and because he is the representative in the province of the State Administrations".

“Among the fundamental objectives that are closest to our hearts and that characterise our daily commitment are road safety and the fight against alcohol abuse, which is not only one of the factors that fuel the phenomenon of bad nightlife, but is also the origin of serious health risks and one of the main causes of accidents. – adds the Councillor Giulio Guerri.

Working towards these goals is essential to protect the well-being and life of our young people and to build, for the benefit of all citizens, an increasingly safe community, governed by the principles of respect and responsibility. This is one of the essential bases of the culture of prevention, which we intend to promote and grow in our city through concrete initiatives.

Therefore, the administration renews its support for this important project of the Red Cross, which goes precisely in this direction and to which, also this year, we contribute with the delivery of 500 disposable breathalysers provided by the Local Police”.