Driving habits
A reader commented on our crazy and lunatic driving habits. I will go so far as to disagree.
Actually I'll go even further: I hereby claim that Italy (and especially Rome) has the most civilized driving habits on Earth.
Before you start storming with angry replies, hear this: among the large countries, Italy has the highest car density in the world. If you put all the cars in Rome on the street at the same time, they would not fit. Yet, you see so few accidents, and most of those are due to scooters, careless pedestrians and bad road condition.
So you'll want to know how to drive in Rome. Here's some basic rules.
1) Don't be stressed by vehicles of lower size, they'll take care of themselves.
2) As a pedestrian, find the nearest zebras, then start crossing with moderate and constant speed, always looking to the forthcoming driver (there'll be one). Don't wait for drivers to stop, force them to, and never panic: they will.
3) The most dangerous things on the road are scooters. The larger these are, the more treacherous they are, since their drivers tend to consider them as bicycles, but they have the size of a small car.
4) The second most dangerous things are Smart cars (those ugly two-seaters made by Mercedes and Swatch, which tend to be driven by bimbos and teenagers with more gel on the head than brain inside).
5) The third most dangerous things are pedestrians who don't follow my advice n.2 and do one of the following: suddenly start crossing very fast, then stop two metres away from the pavement; start crossing then back off; start crossing slowly without looking; then start running when they see a car approaching; start crossing outside the zebras (they are indeed very important); start crossing, then answer the mobile phone or (even worse) start texting their friends.
6) When negotiating a crossing that looks too messy (such as the one between Via di Decima and Via Colombo, a real masterpiece of demential engineering), go slowly forward and be prapared to brake suddenly in case your neighbours happen to have a different opinions over priorities.
I'll come back with more. Comments please!
Actually I'll go even further: I hereby claim that Italy (and especially Rome) has the most civilized driving habits on Earth.
Before you start storming with angry replies, hear this: among the large countries, Italy has the highest car density in the world. If you put all the cars in Rome on the street at the same time, they would not fit. Yet, you see so few accidents, and most of those are due to scooters, careless pedestrians and bad road condition.
So you'll want to know how to drive in Rome. Here's some basic rules.
1) Don't be stressed by vehicles of lower size, they'll take care of themselves.
2) As a pedestrian, find the nearest zebras, then start crossing with moderate and constant speed, always looking to the forthcoming driver (there'll be one). Don't wait for drivers to stop, force them to, and never panic: they will.
3) The most dangerous things on the road are scooters. The larger these are, the more treacherous they are, since their drivers tend to consider them as bicycles, but they have the size of a small car.
4) The second most dangerous things are Smart cars (those ugly two-seaters made by Mercedes and Swatch, which tend to be driven by bimbos and teenagers with more gel on the head than brain inside).
5) The third most dangerous things are pedestrians who don't follow my advice n.2 and do one of the following: suddenly start crossing very fast, then stop two metres away from the pavement; start crossing then back off; start crossing slowly without looking; then start running when they see a car approaching; start crossing outside the zebras (they are indeed very important); start crossing, then answer the mobile phone or (even worse) start texting their friends.
6) When negotiating a crossing that looks too messy (such as the one between Via di Decima and Via Colombo, a real masterpiece of demential engineering), go slowly forward and be prapared to brake suddenly in case your neighbours happen to have a different opinions over priorities.
I'll come back with more. Comments please!
posted by mac | 13:43
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