--- title: Pope Francis Asks Italy's Traffic Police to Show 'Mercy' description: Motorists taking liberties with Rome's narrow streets now have a new patron to thank if they get pulled over: Pope Francis. canonical: https://time.com/5032788/pope-francis-mercy-italy-police-drivers/ author: Eli Meixler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-21T03:18:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:25.119Z og:title: Pope Asks Italian Traffic Police to Have 'Mercy' on Drivers og:description: "Mercy is not a sign of weakness," the Pope told traffic cops. og:url: https://time.com/5032788/pope-francis-mercy-italy-police-drivers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58e7299fbfd394a8/6988e68ccf40a87aa0c4a489/gettyimages-468377730.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: ITALY-POPE-HOLY WEEK og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pope Asks Italian Traffic Police to Have 'Mercy' on Drivers twitter:description: "Mercy is not a sign of weakness," the Pope told traffic cops. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58e7299fbfd394a8/6988e68ccf40a87aa0c4a489/gettyimages-468377730.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pope Francis Has Asked Italian Traffic Police to Have 'Mercy' on Delinquent Drivers ## Video: Pope Francis Got a Special Lamborghini, Which Will Be Auctioned Off for Charity [Watch (HLS stream): Pope Francis Got a Special Lamborghini, Which Will Be Auctioned Off for Charity](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kMm5fcoH.m3u8) (0:39)  _Published 2017-11-15. Pope Francis got the keys to a fancy new Lamborghini on Wednesday — but he won’t be tooling around the Vatican gardens in it._ by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Nov 21, 2017 3:18 AM UTC  Pope Francis arrives by car at Rebibbia prison, where he washed the feet of prisoners in Rome, Italy on April 2, 2014. Pope Francis arrives by car at Rebibbia prison, where he washed the feet of prisoners in Rome, Italy on April 2, 2014.Alberto Pizzoli—AFP/Getty Images by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Nov 21, 2017 3:18 AM UTC Drivers taking liberties with Rome’s narrow streets and tight corners now have a new patron to thank if they get pulled over: Pope Francis. At a [meeting](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42060829) in Rome this week, the [Pontiff asked Italian traffic police](https://agensir.it/quotidiano/2017/11/20/pope-francis-to-traffic-and-railway-police-drivers-poorly-responsible-but-mobile-phones-are-to-blame-as-well-fines-are-not-enough/) to show a little more understanding for Italy’s more inventive drivers, while criticizing a modern “lifestyle” of “haste and a competitiveness” for “turning the streets into Formula One tracks and the traffic-lights into the starting block of a Grand Prix.” “Mercy is not a sign of weakness”, the Pope told Italian police. “Nor does it require giving up the use of force.” [Pope Francis](http://time.com/tag/pope-francis/) appealed to law enforcement try to understand why drivers bent or broke traffic regulations, citing in particular the rise in [distracted driving](http://time.com/money/4706657/auto-insurance-rates-distracted-driving-smartphones/) and smart phone use. “Fines are not enough to increase safety, education is required to make people more aware of the responsibilities they have for the people who travel next to us,” Pope Francis said. Italy [recorded 3,283 deaths](https://www.istat.it/en/archive/202807) and 249,175 injuries as a result of road accidents in 2016, with distracted driving and disobeying traffic lights and rules accounting for 31% of accidents, according to the [Italian National Institute of Statistics](https://www.istat.it/en/about-istat). The Pope will also be personally doing his part to cut down on speeding. Lamborghini donated a white Huracan outfitted with gold papal racing stripes last week, but Pope Francis himself won’t be getting behind the wheel: the sports car will be [auctioned off to benefit charities.](http://time.com/5025340/pope-francis-lamborghini/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5032788/pope-francis-mercy-italy-police-drivers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5032788/pope-francis-mercy-italy-police-drivers/"},"headline":"Pope Francis Has Asked Italian Traffic Police to Have 'Mercy' on Delinquent Drivers","datePublished":"2017-11-21T03:18:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:25.119Z","description":"\"Mercy is not a sign of weakness\", the Pope told traffic cops","url":"https://time.com/5032788/pope-francis-mercy-italy-police-drivers/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Pope Francis topic","Italy","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58e7299fbfd394a8/6988e68ccf40a87aa0c4a489/gettyimages-468377730.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58e7299fbfd394a8/6988e68ccf40a87aa0c4a489/gettyimages-468377730.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ITALY-POPE-HOLY WEEK","caption":"ITALY-POPE-HOLY WEEK","creditText":"Alberto Pizzoli—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5032788/pope-francis-mercy-italy-police-drivers/","name":"Pope Francis Has Asked Italian Traffic Police to Have 'Mercy' on Delinquent Drivers"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Pope Francis Got a Special Lamborghini, Which Will Be Auctioned Off for Charity","description":"Pope Francis got the keys to a fancy new Lamborghini on Wednesday — but he won’t be tooling around the Vatican gardens in it.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/kMm5fcoH/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-11-15T19:24:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kMm5fcoH.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5032788/pope-francis-mercy-italy-police-drivers/","duration":"PT39S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5032788/pope-francis-mercy-italy-police-drivers/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```