Italian DJS to mix drink-drive messages

Italian DJs on Monday pledged to help cut down post-disco road traffic deaths caused by drunk-driving following a horrific accident in Puglia that killed seven young people over the weekend.
Disc jockeys have decided on ten messages urging young people to moderate their alcohol intake that they will mix into their sets at over 600 parties in more than 200 discos across the country over the summer.
Among the ten phrases to be played over loudspeakers are 'Nobody likes a drunk woman', 'Can you walk straight? Then take me home', 'Even real men ask for help', and 'Know your limit'.
''We are promoting this project with enthusiasm, since often we meet people who exaggerate their alcohol intake during our evenings,'' said the DJs behind the initiative, who include the internationally renowned DJ Boosta, Francesco Farfa, Stefano Fontana, DJ Remo and Samantha Garofalo.
''We want to launch a very clear message to everyone that they can enjoy themselves without overdoing things''.
In the latest major accident to hit the headlines, seven people aged between 17 and 33 died in an accident near the southern city of Lecce in the early hours of Sunday morning following a head-on collision between a Mini Cooper and a Fiat Marea. Two others escaped with minor injuries.
The frequency of similar post-party accidents among young people have led to the media describing the phenomenon as the Saturday Night Massacre.
''We have to work together with the Education Minister (Maria Stella) Gelmini to find a way of bringing road safety education into schools,'' said Public Works Minister Altero Matteoli in the wake of Sunday's accident.
''We have to be extremely strict and there must be more controls. As far as young people are concerned, I'd like to tell families not to leave the education of their children up to other people, also in road safety. The family must do its bit,'' he said.
Matteoli added that he was mulling over plans to introduce black boxes in cars.
''Black boxes which record what the driver does and fix speed limits could be very useful. We are looking at the costs and whether we could ask car firms to include them in new models,'' he said.
According to official statistics, alcohol is a factor in 30-40% of all road accidents in Italy, which has one of the worst road safety records in Europe.
More than 44% of all night-time road accidents occur on a Friday or a Saturday night, while drivers aged between 16 and 29 account for nearly a third of all road fatalities.
Traffic fatalities in Italy last year totalled 5,669, far more than the 5,091 in Germany, 4,709 in France and 3,297 in Britain, according to socio-economic think-tank Censis.