Two cars in the same day, both ending up where they should never have been: on the steps of Sant’Ercolano. It happened over the weekend, at the final stretch of the historic staircase that rises from Borgo Bello towards the acropolis, right in front of the church dedicated to one of the city’s three patrons. A place traversed these days, characterized by the long spring holidays, by hundreds of locals and tourists. Some passersby, incredulous, noticed them and captured the scene with their phones. In one of the videos circulated among residents, a lady is seen getting out of the car, calmly removing a movable post that should prevent passage and, shortly before getting back in and continuing the descent as if nothing had happened, repositioning the access deterrent in its place. This is not the first time it has happened. Those who live and work in the area report that similar incidents occur quite frequently. The culprit? Often the satellite navigator, which indicates the shortest way to reach the historic center and guides unsuspecting motorists on routes completely unsuitable for traffic, in this case even on a monumental staircase. But it’s not just the GPS’s fault. At the end of Via del Mercato, overlooking Via XIV Settembre, the ‘no entry except residents’ sign has long since disappeared. In other words, the ZTL. And Google Maps, finding no apparent obstacles, continues to indicate the road as passable. Furthermore, the electronic gates of the ZTL on Via Solitaria and Via Campo Battaglia have been out of service since December 2023, when a fire damaged the Enel control unit at the height of Via XIV Settembre. The result is an apparently free route, which leads straight to the stairs. And, therefore, into the historic center. Cars venture among the steps, ignoring prohibitions and signage, or finding easily removable deterrents. The result is always the same: a vehicle violating one of the city’s symbolic places, under the astonished eyes of residents and tourists. Many report that the phenomenon is anything but rare and call for concrete actions: clearer signage, fixed deterrents, but also an update of the digital maps that lead to these errors. In some cases, as documented, it was enough to remove a post to turn a medieval staircase into an unauthorized access lane. Those who live in the area have been witnessing these scenes with a certain resignation for some time. But when more episodes occur in a few hours, as happened this time, it is evident that they are no longer isolated cases. And perhaps it’s time to do something before the umpteenth ‘shortcut’ of the navigator turns into damage, or worse, an accident.