Transport minister Salvini faces backlash over road safety campaign.

Italy's transport ministry has come in for heavy criticism over a road safety advertising campaign in which the occupants of the cars are not wearing seat belts.

The three adverts draw attention to incorrect behaviour while driving, with scenarios including the driver getting distracted by a mobile phone, drug use at the wheel, and driving at high speed.

Under the title “Make the only choice possible. Because it's your life and that of others", the split-screen safety awareness campaign shows the right and wrong choice, with the latter leading to a road accident.

Sensibilizzare i giovani: il Mit lancia la nuova campagna di comunicazione sulla #sicurezzastradale: “Fai l’unica scelta possibile”.
https://t.co/7jHWNADyin pic.twitter.com/116aYbMeM8

— Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti (@mitgov_it) February 20, 2024

After the adverts were launched by the transport ministry on Tuesday, social media users soon spotted the lack of seatbelts and the campaign quickly became a political issue.

Much of the criticism was directed at transport minister Matteo Salvini, Italy's deputy premier and leader of the right-wing Lega party.

Mi scusi Onorevole @matteosalvinimi ma è stato abolito l’obbligo delle cinture di sicurezza?
Perché in caso contrario è meglio rifare lo spot sulla sicurezza stradale#Salvini pic.twitter.com/kzo9i1i70J

— Nino Cartabellotta (@Cartabellotta) February 21, 2024

Carlo Calenda, leader of the centrist opposition party Azione who recently accused the Lega of allegedly still having "strong links" to the party of Russian president Vladimir Putin, wrote on X: "It must be said, however, that a Minister who launches an advert on road safety and does not notice that seat belts are missing should be kicked out by the citizens."

The road safety awareness campaign also sparked criticism from the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) and the populist Movimento 5 Stelle (M5s).

The Ministry of Transportation launches an advertising campaign for road safety, but none of the girls in the video are wearing seatbelts.

Feb 21, 2024 pic.twitter.com/M5Rif4Qf8t

— Crazy Ass Moments in Italian Politics (@CrazyItalianPol) February 21, 2024

Italian media on Wednesday cited sources from the transport ministry who specified that the videos had not yet been broadcast on public television.

The director of the awareness campaign, Daniele Falleri, later said he regretted the controversy and pledged to modify the footage "so that viewers are not distracted from the only aim that we really care about: raising everyone's awareness to contribute, each in their own small way, to saving human lives".