There has been a road accident!
in-chi-DEN-te — four syllables, stress on third. 'Stradale' — stra-DA-le.
Report a road accident to 118. Also call 112 (police) and 115 (fire brigade) if people are trapped.
'C'è stato' = there has been (passato prossimo of 'esserci'). 'Incidente stradale' = road accident. In Italy, calling 118 for road accidents also triggers police ('polizia stradale' or 'carabinieri') and sometimes fire brigade ('vigili del fuoco') for trapped persons. Give: location, number of vehicles, number of injured, severity.
Ci sono persone intrappolate nell'auto.
There are people trapped in the car.
Triggers 'vigili del fuoco' (fire brigade) dispatch for extraction
Ci sono tre feriti. Uno è grave.
There are three injured. One is serious.
Give number and severity — determines number of ambulances dispatched
L'incidente è al chilometro cinquantotto dell'autostrada.
The accident is at kilometre fifty-eight of the motorway.
Motorway location — kilometre markers are essential reference points
Italy has a serious road safety problem — around 3,000 deaths per year on Italian roads. The 'polizia stradale' investigates highway accidents, 'carabinieri' handle provincial and rural roads, and 'polizia municipale' covers urban areas. After an accident, Italian law requires you to stop, call 118, and not leave the scene until authorities arrive. Hit-and-run ('pirateria stradale') is a criminal offence with severe penalties.