Italy’s crackdown on cyclists is long overdue 

Years of exposure to their arrogance, illegality and sense of entitlement has shown me that Italy’s cyclists are a public menace. So the news that Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government has announced a crackdown on them brought a smile to my face. Transport minister Matteo Salvini told parliament that cyclists could have to wear helmets, get insurance, display a number plate and even indicators. That’ll teach them. 

Italy’s cyclists break the laws that already exist pathologically. Anything that tries at long last to rein them in must be welcome. On Coffee House, Jake Wallis Simons suggests that Salvini is victimising cyclists because they are symbols of left-wing eco-fanaticism. He’s wrong.

For many generations, the bicycle had mass appeal in Italy long before the recent obsession with saving the planet took hold, and Italy has produced many world champions.

In Forlì, in the Romagna in the north of Italy, where, for many years I worked on a regional newspaper, the first column I wrote was a tirade against cyclists.