Italy witnessed a devastating surge in fatal road accidents during the final July weekend, with deaths and injuries reported from north to south.
The deadliest incident occurred on the Turin-Milan motorway (A4) at the Piedmont-Lombardy border. An 82-year-old man entered the highway from the Marcallo Mesero exit heading the wrong way. Driving a Peugeot 207, Egidio Ceriano of Cerano collided head-on in the passing lane with a Peugeot 3008 SUV carrying four people. Ceriano and three SUV occupants died instantly. The victims included Mario Paglino and Gianni Grossi, life partners and prominent Barbie collectors/creators who co-founded the company Magia2000. Also killed was Amodio Giurni, 37. Giurni’s wife, the sole survivor in the SUV, suffered chest trauma, leg and arm fractures, and remains in serious condition intubated at Milan’s Niguarda hospital.
This crash brings 2025’s wrong-way driving fatalities to nine, according to the Asaps-Sapidata Observatory. The group recorded 56 such incidents in the year’s first six months, including 20 on highways and involving two over-65 drivers.
Separately, in Mola di Bari, a six-month pregnant woman died overnight in a collision between her car and a van. This followed the death of Giusy Lucente hours earlier on the Bari beltway, struck while assisting another girl.
Near Udine, a 36-year-old motorcyclist died in a crash with a car at Latisana. In Catanzaro, a 35-year-old man and his 7-year-old daughter died instantly when their Volkswagen Golf collided with a Fiat Panda on Viale Emilia. The cause is under investigation.
On State Road 16 towards Brindisi, a 33-year-old woman originally from Abruzzo died after her car collided with a van carrying Ukrainian nationals. She was returning from a wedding with two injured friends. Three van occupants, including a nine-year-old child, were hospitalized in critical condition. Bari prosecutors opened a vehicular homicide investigation; the 59-year-old van driver underwent standard alcohol and drug tests.
Bergamo province also saw a deadly Sunday. A 20-year-old died on the Valcavallina state road in Borgo di Terzo after his car hit another vehicle. A 55-year-old motorcyclist died at the junction between State Road 42 and the Zanica beltway. Earlier, a 47-year-old man died in a multi-car pileup inside the Montenegrone tunnel near Scanzorosciate, closing the tunnel for hours. Separately, a 63-year-old woman hit by a car in Bergamo on July 24th succumbed to her injuries at Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital.