The first time I’ve been in Italy I was amazed by so many scooters. Old, new, it doesn’t matter because you see them in different colors at every corner. I even heard people calling Rome as the scooter-capital of Europe.

A classic Vespa scooter. Photo by the-spidernet
But there seems to be a problem. The Italian government is keen on keeping a healthier air in their cities and one of the measures they are taking is paying owners to change their old scooters with new ones. Obviously the 2-stroke engine emits much more harmful pollutants than a new generation 4-stroke model and add the fact that there’s no catalyst and you have a big polluter.
This is why authorities will offer a 300 Euro bonus when buy a new scooter and ditch your old one. Of course, if you live in Italy.
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