With the ordinance n. 3511 of 1^ST July 2019 (https://bit.ly/2GjnsUO) the company Autostrada Brescia Verona Vicenza Padova has ordered, starting at 00.00 on 1^ST July 2019, the definitive revocation of the ban on overtaking between heavy vehicles between Vicenza Ovest and Vicenza Est, in both directions.

A decision that the company took due to an experimentation conducted, following what has been tested in previous and positive experiences, in the stretch between Vicenza Ovest and Vicenza Est from 22^nd December 2018 to 30^th June 2019. The experiment allowed to find significant results in terms of safety: in the test period, in fact, the reduction of accidents in the section concerned was about 30% compared to the previous year with a reduction of 82.9% of the heavy vehicles involved.

The ordinance concerns vehicles with an authorized mass of more than 12 tons used for the transport in the stretch between Vicenza Ovest (km 327 + 055) and Vicenza Est (km 334 + 662), in both directions, and provides at the same time, the closure of the emergency stands located at the progressive kilometers 331 + 300 west, 328 + 500 east, 329 + 000 east, 329 + 700 west, as already established in the experimentation period.

The introduction of the revocation of the overtaking ban and the consequent experimentation that began at the end of 2018 had become necessary in light of the increasing volumes of traffic, in particular commercial, in the stretch between Vicenza Ovest and Vicenza Est, where the ban on overtaking heavy vehicles was present. Due to the need to comply with this prohibition, there were frequent queues of heavy vehicles along the slow lane in the section between the two toll booths, in both directions with a consequent reduction of the safety distances. These queues also generated traffic disturbance situations for the vehicles leaving Vicenza Ovest and Vicenza Est toll booths. In fact, due to the queuing, some vehicles came up to the two exits, passing through the fast lane, then making potentially dangerous maneuvers characterized by sudden braking or sudden lane changes in order to exit.

The significant reduction of accidents observed during the trial period allowed the definitive revocation of the overtaking ban. A measure that, in addition to increasing safety, can also contribute, through a decrease in braking and acceleration sequences, to an improvement in the fluidity of the circulation.