Drunk drivers behind the wheel will no longer be tolerated in the city. Safety superintendent Graziano Cioni is on the offensive against those who abuse alcohol and get behind the wheel. ‘If you drive drunk, it is as if you are shooting aimlessly into crowd full of people, like a murderer or an assassin’, he stated at a press conference last week.
A recent series of deadly events and alarming statistics involving drinking and driving has fuelled Palazzo Vecchio’s new stance on the matter. A new ad campaign against drinking and driving launched by city hall will have famed Fiorentina striker, Giampaolo Pazzini, as a spokesperson. For city officials hoping to get a stronger message across to Florentine youth, the choice to put Pazzini’s face on thousands of posters and adverts across the city was an obvious one: he is the most idolized Viola player among youth. City leaders hope that the ads featuring Pazzini’s image flanked by the phrase, ‘You can lose a match, but not your life! If you want to drive, then don’t drink’, will help to discourage youth from getting behind the wheel intoxicated. ‘I am happy to help in the fight against drinking and driving. I don’t want to hear of people dying on the roads due to alcohol abuse anymore’, Pazzini commented. The new campaign includes myriad visits to schools and discos in upcoming months by educators carrying the message against ‘boozing and cruising’. At Florentine clubs like Tenax, Maracanà, Space Electronic and Vipers, youth will be able to give themselves breathalyzer tests. The province of Florence will distribute 20,000 alcohol tests to young drivers in high schools while school campaigns will inform youth of the dangers of abuse. According to Florence police, there were 5582 road accidents in 2006 involving drinking and driving, in which 22 people lost their lives.
