Italian Driving - Normal Stuff! (1 Viewer)

[DBK]

I've had technical problems getting the video off my new cheapo dash cam but having just solved the problem I insist on sharing with you a quick look at today's motoring highlights.

The clip shows a wonderful junction in Gala, a small town in southern Sicily.

I think I am beginning to understand the Italian driving conventions - might is right - so in MH you are fairly safe just pushing out into moving traffic. Everybody else does it.

Watch the Fiat Punto towards the end. A Mercedes pulls out in front of it (horn blowing) then stops to chat to the post lady a little later (more horn blowing). There is no sound so you will just have to imagine the noise.

 

[chaser]

I have stood and watched the traffic in rimini and just can't understand why there isnt mayhem every ten minutes.

 

[DavidG58]

I have found it seems to cause much confusion if you simply wave at someone who pulls in front, or that makes you stop to let them come through, the UK use for 'thanks for waiting' doesn't seem to apply overseas, they look nicely bemused

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[DBK]

I have found it seems to cause much confusion if you simply wave at someone who pulls in front, or that makes you stop to let them come through, the UK use for 'thanks for waiting' doesn't seem to apply overseas, they look nicely bemused

I've noticed that too.

 

[Alistair33]

Ok ,quick reply....... I've not read your post but have watched the video & with the exception of you storcking the white fiat I can see nothing wrong with the footage......

time to read your post

 

[DBK]

Ok ,quick reply....... I've not read your post but have watched the video & with the exception of you storcking the white fiat I can see nothing wrong with the footage......

time to read your post

There's nothing wrong in the video - the mayhem seen is perfectly normal for Italy. Lots of pushing and shoving but generally everyone seems to take it their stride.

Small edit: the town is Gela, not Gala. Predictable ticks strikes again.

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[Robert Clark]

We have 3 Italians in our business
For the benefit of everyone's safety, they catch the bus to work

 

[MR. FUSION]

I saved a few dash cam vids of my MH trip to Italy, one is of an HGV having to back up about quarter of a mile of a one way street. Since Italians can't drive more than 10 meters forwards in a straight line you can imagine what mayhem going that distance backwards was like. Another memorable one was when I was passing outside a college in the morning, total chaos with cars strewn everywhere dropping students off and one parent managing to gently back into students on a zebra crossing......classic.

 

[Minxy]

Do not mention Italian driving to me! It is madness, sheer madness! I'm sure there are some Italian drivers who are lovely people but from our experience they are mostly arrogant, selfish bullies, giving no regard for their own safety, never mind that of others!

The bikers/scooterists/car drivers just do as they please, overtake where they shouldn't .... one overtaking another who is already overtaking another at a zebra crossing!!! Driving straight at you in the hope that you'll pull over and leave enough of a gap to pass between you and the car on the opposite side of the road ... not to mention their just stopping in the middle of the road to say "Hi" to their friends, or buy ice-cream ... we saw a few ice-cream stalls where they shouldn't have been in dangerous places and idiots stopping to buy them causing even more chaos than normal.

Then there are the ones that don't think about stopping at all when they are pulling into the main road in front of you, cutting corners, overtaking where they are not supposed to do such as where there are double solid white lines, on blind corners, drive as close to your bum as they can so they can't see past and then suddenly pull out in the hope they can overtake and not get splattered!

As for speed ... there is NO such thing as a 'respected' speed limit in Italy ... they do 100kph in a 50kph zone, but we can partly understand this as some of the main roads are limited to 60kph which is ridiculously low especially when you then you come to a village which has a limit of 100kph through it! If you attempt to drive at the legal limit you get hooted at or end up with an Italian car 'brown nosing' you!

We did have some fun though and quite enjoyed shouting out the Italian insult "stupido" (yes it does exist!) and supplementing it with our own version ... "pillocko" ... we also considered keeping hold of some of our bags of dog poo to use as 'ammo' for anyone that really annoyed us but thought better of that just in case our aim wasn't quite good enough and we hit an innocent pedestrian instead (as opposed to the suicidal ones that just step out on the road)!

One bit of hilarity was when driving through one village which had an electronic speed detector on it which then displayed the speed you were travelling ... in this case the speed for the road was 50kph but no-one went that slow so the poor display was totally overwhelmed and just constantly flashed 888.

Oh and the roads ... maybe 'pot holed tarmac' tracks would be a better description in many places, they are worse than Ireland and that's saying something! Awful, just awful and the bad condition of a lot of them (and I'm talking minor AND major ones) made going places torture at times, slow to get there and teeth chattering all the way!

These are just a few examples of the idiotic drivers/situations we encountered and we aren't shrinking violets when it comes to driving but we'd well and truly had enough of it about 10 days or so ago and decided to head North and eventually out of Italy and are now parked up at Sas Van Gent in Holland (just above Gent in Belgium) and it's lovely and quiet ... pure bliss!

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[DBK]

Do not mention Italian driving to me! It is madness, sheer madness! I'm sure there are some Italian drivers who are lovely people but from our experience they are mostly arrogant, selfish bullies, giving no regard for their own safety, never mind that of others!

The bikers/scooterists/car drivers just do as they please, overtake where they shouldn't .... one overtaking another who is already overtaking another at a zebra crossing!!! Driving straight at you in the hope that you'll pull over and leave enough of a gap to pass between you and the car on the opposite side of the road ... not to mention their just stopping in the middle of the road to say "Hi" to their friends, or buy ice-cream ... we saw a few ice-cream stalls where they shouldn't have been in dangerous places and idiots stopping to buy them causing even more chaos than normal.

Then there are the ones that don't think about stopping at all when they are pulling into the main road in front of you, cutting corners, overtaking where they are not supposed to do such as where there are double solid white lines, on blind corners, drive as close to your bum as they can so they can't see past and then suddenly pull out in the hope they can overtake and not get splattered!

As for speed ... there is NO such thing as a 'respected' speed limit in Italy ... they do 100kph in a 50kph zone, but we can partly understand this as some of the main roads are limited to 60kph which is ridiculously low especially when you then you come to a village which has a limit of 100kph through it! If you attempt to drive at the legal limit you get hooted at or end up with an Italian car 'brown nosing' you!

We did have some fun though and quite enjoyed shouting out the Italian insult "stupido" (yes it does exist!) and supplementing it with our own version ... "pillocko" ... we also considered keeping hold of some of our bags of dog poo to use as 'ammo' for anyone that really annoyed us but thought better of that just in case our aim wasn't quite good enough and we hit an innocent pedestrian instead (as opposed to the suicidal ones that just step out on the road)!

One bit of hilarity was when driving through one village which had an electronic speed detector on it which then displayed the speed you were travelling ... in this case the speed for the road was 50kph but no-one went that slow so the poor display was totally overwhelmed and just constantly flashed 888.

Oh and the roads ... maybe 'pot holed tarmac' tracks would be a better description in many places, they are worse than Ireland and that's saying something! Awful, just awful and the bad condition of a lot of them (and I'm talking minor AND major ones) made going places torture at times, slow to get there and teeth chattering all the way!

These are just a few examples of the idiotic drivers/situations we encountered and we aren't shrinking violets when it comes to driving but we'd well and truly had enough of it about 10 days or so ago and decided to head North and eventually out of Italy and are now parked up at Sas Van Gent in Holland (just above Gent in Belgium) and it's lovely and quiet ... pure bliss!

I just look at it all with a smile and I wouldn't dare take them on at their National sport. So I just watch from the stands, so to speak, and hope play doesn't spill off the pitch.

 

[Minxy]

I just look at it all with a smile and I wouldn't dare take them on at their National sport. So I just watch from the stands, so to speak, and hope play doesn't spill off the pitch.

That's a good way to do it ... but not much help when you have to travel so no choice but to get into the midst of it all ... we've travelled through Luxembourg, Belgium and Holland today and I don't think they knew what had hit them as hubby was still in Italian driving mode!

 

[rikfos]

I have found it seems to cause much confusion if you simply wave at someone who pulls in front, or that makes you stop to let them come through, the UK use for 'thanks for waiting' doesn't seem to apply overseas, they look nicely bemused

Horns are for saying hello and as you say no one in Italy or Greece thanks you for l\letting them in. I have never seen any road rage either

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[TheTwoOfUs]

We were nearly run into the central reservation on the bike on the autostrada north of Milan by a motorist who was reading his paper whilst driving.

 

[Vanderek]

In our defence the Brits are good at at traffic chaos

 

[chaser]

But has anyone of you actually seen any accidents, we havent in a week, just unbelievable.

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[MR. FUSION]

But has anyone of you actually seen any accidents, we havent in a week, just unbelievable.

The Most accidents I have seen on European roads have been on the German autobahns, in fact every time I have been on one (no exaggeration either) .

 

[MR. FUSION]

Do not mention Italian driving to me! It is madness, sheer madness! I'm sure there are some Italian drivers who are lovely people but from our experience they are mostly arrogant, selfish bullies, giving no regard for their own safety, never mind that of others!

The bikers/scooterists/car drivers just do as they please, overtake where they shouldn't .... one overtaking another who is already overtaking another at a zebra crossing!!! Driving straight at you in the hope that you'll pull over and leave enough of a gap to pass between you and the car on the opposite side of the road ... not to mention their just stopping in the middle of the road to say "Hi" to their friends, or buy ice-cream ... we saw a few ice-cream stalls where they shouldn't have been in dangerous places and idiots stopping to buy them causing even more chaos than normal.

Then there are the ones that don't think about stopping at all when they are pulling into the main road in front of you, cutting corners, overtaking where they are not supposed to do such as where there are double solid white lines, on blind corners, drive as close to your bum as they can so they can't see past and then suddenly pull out in the hope they can overtake and not get splattered!

As for speed ... there is NO such thing as a 'respected' speed limit in Italy ... they do 100kph in a 50kph zone, but we can partly understand this as some of the main roads are limited to 60kph which is ridiculously low especially when you then you come to a village which has a limit of 100kph through it! If you attempt to drive at the legal limit you get hooted at or end up with an Italian car 'brown nosing' you!

We did have some fun though and quite enjoyed shouting out the Italian insult "stupido" (yes it does exist!) and supplementing it with our own version ... "pillocko" ... we also considered keeping hold of some of our bags of dog poo to use as 'ammo' for anyone that really annoyed us but thought better of that just in case our aim wasn't quite good enough and we hit an innocent pedestrian instead (as opposed to the suicidal ones that just step out on the road)!

One bit of hilarity was when driving through one village which had an electronic speed detector on it which then displayed the speed you were travelling ... in this case the speed for the road was 50kph but no-one went that slow so the poor display was totally overwhelmed and just constantly flashed 888.

Oh and the roads ... maybe 'pot holed tarmac' tracks would be a better description in many places, they are worse than Ireland and that's saying something! Awful, just awful and the bad condition of a lot of them (and I'm talking minor AND major ones) made going places torture at times, slow to get there and teeth chattering all the way!

These are just a few examples of the idiotic drivers/situations we encountered and we aren't shrinking violets when it comes to driving but we'd well and truly had enough of it about 10 days or so ago and decided to head North and eventually out of Italy and are now parked up at Sas Van Gent in Holland (just above Gent in Belgium) and it's lovely and quiet ... pure bliss!

Now you know why Italian vehicles are not designed and built with longevity in mind........most of them in Italy never get that far

 

[Louis]

Thought they reversed everywhere?

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[DBK]

But has anyone of you actually seen any accidents, we havent in a week, just unbelievable.

There was a nasty one on the autostrada - a car between two lorries. Lots of roadside memorials to people killed on the road here in Sicily. Flowers (sometimes fresh but usually plastic) and occasionally a photograph of the deceased.

 

[Rapido925M]

We "lived" in Spain for 6months with our RHD UK-reg car and I really really wished for a LHD one.
Then we hired a car in Italy for a fortnight and how I wished I was in my own vehicle: they all assumed I was a normal Italian male (sorry for any lack of PC, but my hairstyle would not allow them to consider me female ). To paraphrase: "cars to the left of them, cars to the right of them, into the valley of death drove the Fiat 600"

Gordon

PS Amongst the 1200 miles which we covered, we also did the Amalfi Coast in the "wrong" direction, so all we got was traffic hassle and zero views.

 

[adt]

When I was based in Sicily for a while, we used to call it Wacky Races the way everyone drove through Palermo in the morning, pedal to the floor or braking hand - digital driving. But having a van for our team meant that as a larger vehicle, nobody messed with us. I was sure the brakes were wired to the horn on Italian based cars.
When working out of Milan, we stayed in a town called Varese - lovely place but it had the aptly named (by us) malfunction junction where two main roads of 4 lane traffic crossed each other and no right of way indication or traffic signals. Our tactic was just to put the biggest nutter in the driving seat, again being in a minibus / van worked to our advantage.

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[Minxy]

We saw the 'remains' of one accident, it appeared a car driver had pulled out of the side road and unfortunately a biker was travelling on the main road and hit him on the front wing and went over, onto the windscreen and beyond ... not sure how the biker was as he was in the ambulance as we passed but the scene wasn't pretty.

Saw a 'good' one a couple of days ago ... a car was at a right angle to the front of the truck it was getting 'up close and personal' with! It looked like the truck had been on the main dual carriageway and the car had pulled out onto it, probably trying to beat the truck but didn't make it, as the car didn't look badly damaged, just 'sitting' across the front of the truck cab, it appears the trucker had managed to predict what was going to happen and slowed as much as possible as the impact didn't appear bad from what we saw as we passed so hopefully at a slow speed but no doubt the car driver had to get a new pair of pants!

We saw quite a few roadside memorials as evidence of I assume deaths due to car accidents so it does happen.

 

[SpeedyDux]

We were passengers in a car in Salerno. Our driver turned round to talk to us just as he approached a roundabout, oblivious to other traffic.

As luck would have it the car that almost smashed into the side of us was Police. They didn't half give him an ear bashing after pulling him over. This being Italy they let him off without a ticket.