Driving in Italy
Nowhere, that I’ve been, has as high a percentage of senseless drivers as in Italy. I don’t know if it’s the driver’s education programs or if it’s the effect of living with mad drivers their whole life. The latter being of a “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” way of thinking. Before coming to Italy I had heard that the streets can be pretty dangerous to navigate but hey, I’d been in New York City, I KNEW what extreme driving was. I was in for a shock. Ask any pedestrian here who has tried to cross the street at a CROSSWALK no less. It’s not a common thing to see a car actually stop to let you pass. That is unless you’re halfway into the street and would be plowed down if they decided to keep going. Even then they look annoyed and speed off just as soon as it’s safe, usually barely missing your heals. Not every driver is this way but I’ve seen it enough times that I can say it’s the “norm”. From where I live in Silvi Marina to the center of the nearest big city, Pescara , there is one main street we travel, the national street. Along this route there are about 7 traffic signals that don’t work and have not worked since my arrival here 7 months ago. This creates a very long unbroken line of cars during “rush hour” making it nearly impossible to enter onto this main artery from any side street. This is usually handled the same way as when using the crosswalk. You edge out inch by inch until you are in the middle of the road and to not let you in would cause an accident. I mentioned “rush hour” before which is a bit of a joke. It would be more appropriate to say “un-rush hour” as this probably takes place during just one hour in the day, the other hours filled with…you guessed it, rush.
Where there DOES happen to be a traffic light, it’s not strictly abided by. Many times a car will take the lane free of other cars (the left turning lane for example) but when the light turns green, they zoom up in front of the first car in the CORRECT lane and drive straight instead of turning. Even if they can’t get ahead of this first car and are stuck in the left turning lane, they will wait until they can freely pass into the lane they need while the cars behind them, who actually need to turn left, wait and honk and shout all sorts of very appropriate things at this idiot.
The last thing I’ll mention here is the parking. People really don’t seem to care if they’re in a designated parking spot or not. If it’s an area that allows other cars to still get out of the lot, well then it’s a parking spot, especially if you’ve got one of those Smart cars. Those little sardine-cans will fit in my back pocket! Also, if there does happen to be parking available they’ll take up 2 or even 3 spots with the excuse that the person who parks next to them could be a crazy driver and they don’t want them parking too close. So basically that proves the whole “if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em” theory. They drive like mad people because they drive amongst mad people.
****NOTE: I’ve not ever seen an automatic here so brush up on your stick skills if you plan on driving while you’re in Italy****
I’ve linked here the most true and hilarious little video done by Bruno Bozzetto, an Italian highlighting the differences between Italians and the rest of Europe. Please check it out at http://www.lifeinitaly.com/flash/
Where there DOES happen to be a traffic light, it’s not strictly abided by. Many times a car will take the lane free of other cars (the left turning lane for example) but when the light turns green, they zoom up in front of the first car in the CORRECT lane and drive straight instead of turning. Even if they can’t get ahead of this first car and are stuck in the left turning lane, they will wait until they can freely pass into the lane they need while the cars behind them, who actually need to turn left, wait and honk and shout all sorts of very appropriate things at this idiot.
The last thing I’ll mention here is the parking. People really don’t seem to care if they’re in a designated parking spot or not. If it’s an area that allows other cars to still get out of the lot, well then it’s a parking spot, especially if you’ve got one of those Smart cars. Those little sardine-cans will fit in my back pocket! Also, if there does happen to be parking available they’ll take up 2 or even 3 spots with the excuse that the person who parks next to them could be a crazy driver and they don’t want them parking too close. So basically that proves the whole “if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em” theory. They drive like mad people because they drive amongst mad people.
****NOTE: I’ve not ever seen an automatic here so brush up on your stick skills if you plan on driving while you’re in Italy****
I’ve linked here the most true and hilarious little video done by Bruno Bozzetto, an Italian highlighting the differences between Italians and the rest of Europe. Please check it out at http://www.lifeinitaly.com/flash/