They're so polite in person and when they get on the road they turn into demons. Are they showing off? Do they think it's a contest? Has a sociologist studied this?

Mario Andretti syndrome ?

This is the land of Ferrari and Lamborghini, etc., they have to maintain that 'orgoglio' for speed for the patria!

It's the modern way to be sporty.

you have to be skilled, take the right time, made a fast calculation, have everything under control and show to the others you can do it by yourself without waiting for them to turn or move away.
You can do it better, quicker and faster.

Oh gosh, I am a speed demon when I drive the right car!

From WHO:
Speed is the leading killer on the roads. Estimates for the European Union (EU) indicate that reducing the average driving speed by 3 km/h would save around 5000-6000 lives each year and would prevent 120 000-140 000 crashes, saving €20 billion in crash costs. In contrast, raising the speed from 30 km/h to 50 km/h increases a pedestrian's risk of being killed in a car crash eightfold. For car occupants, the risk of death in a crash is 20 times higher at an impact speed of 80 km/h than at 32 km/h.

I am trying to picture the A1 full of anarchic Italians all driving at 32 kmh.

Your tellin' me?

I won't even get on a freeway
on Saturday, Sunday or Holidays!!!

I came to bella napoli in 1969 after two years of fun and games up and down the mekong delta. after one day in naples traffic i was wishing i was back in the jungle. felt much safer there than in italian traffic!!

quote:

Originally posted by Pola:
It's the modern way to be sporty.

you have to be skilled, take the right time, made a fast calculation, have everything under control and show to the others you can do it by yourself without waiting for them to turn or move away.
You can do it better, quicker and faster.

Oh gosh, I am a speed demon when I drive the right car!

And kill as few other innocent road users as possible while showing off, and showing a total lack of driving experience, ignorance of the rules of the road or having sufficient qualification to drive in such a manner!

Carole B

I passed the driving license test studying for three days and I made no errors.

I don't think a free highway will kill anyone other than me.

Don't worry, an elder man aget 75 in his Panda was able to hit a friend of mine at the incredibly speed of 40km/h and now she will stay on the wheelchair for the rest of her life. Of course the man hadn't the driving license retired.

Or what about people passing ( walking) when the light is red? Dangerous for themselves and for the cars which have to stop suddenly.

It's not a matter of speed but of wiseness.

Not everyone has this wisdom and these wonderful reflexes and this expert timing. Shouldn't pedestrians be given the right-of-way since they are absolutely vulnerable? Hasn't anyone thought of this? Or should they be punished by being run down for crossing when the light is red? It sounds like a video-game. One with very high stakes.

Hey, I thought they didn't have the death penalty here? Seems they do, but it is applied for getting in the way of the Italian driver.
If I am driving down the E45 and I pass a truck traveling at the speed limit or a little better, and you come up and kiss my bumper with your car because you want to go faster, how fast will you have to react if one of us has a blowout of a tire?
In spite of belief and confidence to the reverse, it is speed. The entire world of science and engineering knows it is speed. When you are driving down a street faster than the 50 km limit and a child runs into the street you have killed that child because you decided that the rules don't include you. In truth, people like Scumacher don't speed on the roads and streets, because they also know speed kills and maims and permanently ruins lives.

quote:

Originally posted by Pola:


Or what about people passing ( walking) when the light is red? Dangerous for themselves and for the cars which have to stop suddenly.

Here in Rome there are very few traffic lights but lots of pedestrian crossings (zebra crossings) - but the drivers completely ignore the crossing signs. Pedestrians have to basically stand in front of the car for it to screech on its brakes and stop. Common courtesy towards pedestrians in non-existent. I wonder how many pedestrians die each year crossing the street in Rome. I know Ive had a few near death experiences.

Judith is absolutely correct. Don't wait and learn by trial and error. You are intelligent- learn by reserching the issue and reasoning about what you've read.

You've been lucky so far and haven't run down any children, or crashed into another vehicle resulting in the death or permanent injury of the occupants. But it's just a matter of time.

You're not immune to the laws of physics. No matter how great your reflexes are, at 100 kph your car travels 30 or more meters from the time you see the danger until your foot is on the brake pedal. And no matter how powerful your 4 wheel disc ABS brakes are, your braking distance increases as the square of your velocity/10 (at 100 kph: 100 meters).

You may think you'll just swerve if you can't brake in time. But next time, maybe a truck is in the other lane and you have a guardrail on your other side. No where are you going?

Who wants to live their life regretting their stupidity? I don't want blood my hands, do you?

I turn into a terrified back street driver when I get in a car in Italy. My brother in laws drive like maniacs and they still think it’s cool not to wear their seat-belts. I of course put my belt on immediately and always when I’m in the back seat too. My BIL’s wife laughs when her husband drives like a crazy – personally I’d have more respect for my own life and that of other people. I lose count of the number of times they say ‘oh he’s a good driver so it’s OK. It doesn’t matter if you are a good driver – it’s the person in front of you or behind you that you need to watch out for.

It never fails to amuse me that people won’t fly because they are scared, yet risk their lives daily on the roads. Road deaths in the Salento area are all to frequent and you are much more likely to die in a road accident rather than in a plane crash.

quote:

Originally posted by MrsCalabrese:
It never fails to amuse me that people won’t fly because they are scared, yet risk their lives daily on the roads. Road deaths in the Salento area are all to frequent and you are much more likely to die in a road accident rather than in a plane crash.

Good point!

I am usually pretty nervous before flying. But I remember one time I was actually relieved to be on a plane. I had a morning flight out of Rome and had stayed the night before in a friend's apartment in Trastevere. I had a really difficult time getting a taxi. I had to call for over an hour. When it finally arrived, I told the driver, "thank God you're here I was beginning to worry that I would miss my flight." I probably shouldn't have said that because he drove like a maniac to get me to the airport on time. I remember looking at the spedometer and wondering just what 180 kph would be in mph. After about five near accidents, I couldn't wait to get on the plane.

When a friend picked me up at the airport in the US, I glanced over at the spedometer to get the conversion and almost had a heart attack. The taxi driver had been driving even faster than I imagined!

Here's a question maybe someone out there can answer.

I just went through autoscuola. Hundreds of safety rules, driving around at 50 kph, looking in mirrors and using blinkers every time and turning oh so slowly, threats about the punti di patente and having to return to autoscuola if I get 20 punti, etc.

What happens between the day people receive their patente and the day they get behind the wheel alone? Do they get hammered and forget it all? Or does someone else show them the real way to drive and encourage them to forget all that safety nonsense? I'm baffled.

And whatever you do, when the boyman in the BMW or Mercedes comes roaring up behind you, gets 8 inches off your bumper and starts flashing his lights, don't roll down your window and give him the gesture he deserves.

I had someone follow me for 3 miles screaming and gesturing and driving into oncoming traffic while I debated with my wife was it worth getting kicked out of the country or possibly getting killed just for the satisfaction of getting out and kicking someone's ***.

The funny part about Italian driver's is that they are not talented in terms of actually being efficient in getting through traffic. For example, if you want to pass a car, the best way to do it is to leave acceleration space behind the car in front of you so that just before the lane clears, you can speed up. The 6 inches technique requires that you start the acceleration in the other lane after the car passes you. Same thing goes for stop lights and passing people on residential streets: a little common sense makes up for a lot of frustrated aggression.

Having driven in Germany and the UK for a number of years, I can honestly say that Italian drivers are the most dangerous and poorest of the three.

I just ignore these clowns who get up on your arse. Just cruise along and pretend they don't exist. All their theatrics go to waste if you don't bother looking.

I try to encourage Marilyn to do the same but she gets very nervous. She's afraid they will bump into her rear bumper and force her off the road.

You are absolutely right about the stupidity of not allowing themselves an acceleration space. Consequently, they whip out into the opposing lane at the exact speed I am driving and bellow clouds of smoke trying to accelerate (the turbo diesels are the worst at this). We always enjoy watching them rocket up behind the next vehicle 100 feet ahead, usually a dump truck with rocks spilling off the top, or a manure spreader.

I agree completly. Why is it necessary to spend 700 to 800 euro for a license and learn rules that absolutely no one follows.

Is it mandatory to use a cell phone while driving? And what is that nonsence about maintaining a safe distance between cars?

In the US if you can't stay in your lane the police stop you to see if you have been drinking. Italians seem to think the line seperating the lanes is a tracking device they must straddle.

I still get angry when I'm being tail-gated.
i try to follow Cristina's advice and slow down and hope they get the message. It seems as long as you flash your lights you can drive on someone's bumper and drive as fast as you like.

Italians are such warm helpful people until that get behind the wheel of a car, then they become molto maleducato.

Art

And it's all so wasteful. Fuel costs so much here! Imagine how much money would be saved if people would just stop accelerating when they see a red light or stopped traffic in front of them. That alone would reduce consumption considerably! (I have to admit this is something that drove me crazy in the US too.)

I think it all boils down to Italians' obsession being one up on their neighbor and their constant need to show off. I've tried to go into detail on the subject in my blog:

http://www.bmonaghan.com/blog/2006/02/so-you-want-to-drive-in-rome.html

http://www.bmonaghan.com/blog/2006/03/driving-in-rome-continued.html

quote:

Originally posted by Professoressa:
And it's all so wasteful. Fuel costs so much here! Imagine how much money would be saved if people would just stop accelerating when they see a red light or stopped traffic in front of them. That alone would reduce consumption considerably! (I have to admit this is something that drove me crazy in the US too.)

You're right- the US is bad about this too. Read some car reviews of sport compacts- very important to have enough power to win at "red light to redlight racing". We did this when I was a kid too. I remember my $400 '68 Camaro 327(with fake RS emblem), blowing away Mustangs and Javelins (ok, Pinto's and Pacers).

Interesting thread, I've done a ton of driving here, back and forth to Milan, Portogruaro, Padova etc. Ski trips up to the mountains many weekends. In the overall picture I don't see things being anymore dangerous than the US maybe less in some ways more in others. As a US driver I still get bothered by the tail gating. I sometimes slow way down and in some cases they actually start to give me some space. I've even been know to give them the middle finger a time or two - so much for cross cultural tolerance.

Now here is something Luisa and I don't get. On the autostrada from Mestre to Belluno, there are three lanes, yesterday around 7 pm we are in the middle lane, going 110/120, pairs of cars would come up one tail gating the other. As soon as they passed us they would move back into the middle or even right lane, practically cutting us off. Was one drafting on the other, did they move over to avoid detection by cops as we do in the US? Single cars were doing the same lane change technique. And it wasn't just us they practically cut off. In one case the guy braked as soon as he passed us then sped off. Maybe they didn't like us going so "slow" in the middle lane? Maybe this time of day drinking was involved.