See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy SOPHIA STANFORD, NEWS REPORTER Published: 15:31 BST, 24 August 2026 | Updated: 15:34 BST, 24 August 2026
Pedestrians in Italy who are looking at their phone while crossing the road will be subject to fines.As of autumn, careless crossers will be fined up to £64 (€75) or more if they are caught violating the new guidelines, and other electronic devices like tablets, laptops and digital cameras are also covered by this rule.Exceptions will apply for emergency situations and pedestrians can still have hands-free conversations as well as wear headphones - so long as they are at an adequate volume to hear traffic. Officials are hoping this will help deter further incidents after a series of court rulings that found distracted pedestrians are to blame for several car accidents, according to Italian media.Pedestrians must also make sure that a driver has seen them before crossing a road and register that they intend to stop, per the updated Italian highway code.People crossing the road must also not take excessive time to get to the other side. However, those walking along the pavement will not be subject to fines. The new rules are currently in their draft stage but are expected to be approved by mid-October. Pedestrians in Italy who are looking at their phone while crossing the road will be subject to finesOther updates include tougher penalties for drivers who are on their phone, fining repeat offenders for their recklessness up to £2,200 (€2,588). Licenses will be suspended for one to three months also.A restriction on drivers over the age of 85 - which would see them banned from driving on the motorway and only driving within 100km of their home - was also expected but this was removed over public outrage.Italy has followed suit of another European country on the new rules: Lithuania introduced a similar rule in 2018 that fined pedestrians on their phone or otherwise distracted while crossing the road.A year before that, Honolulu is believed to have been the first city to impose the fine.
