Transportation
Don't You Dare Try to Take Away Italians' Vespas
The Genoese government is trying to do it in the name of pollution reduction. It’s not going well.
Gregory Peck loved one, particularly with Audrey Hepburn perched on the handlebars. Jennifer Lopez hopped aboard at least once, as did the classic American cowboy John Wayne. Who doesn’t look cooler aboard an old Vespa?
The Genoese, that’s who, at least according to the government of that northern Italian city. In December, the mayor of Genoa okayed smog-reduction measures that would prohibit residents from driving scooters produced before 1999 in the city’s downtown area. Mayhem ensued, for Genoa is not just any old scooter-loving Italian city. It’s the birthplace of the Vespa.