10802 Friendly drivers in Italy

Sometimes wish I still had my Supra 3 ltr turbo when that happens. They have what they think is fast, but only up to a point, leave them in the dust and then they get upset ..... poor things

I used to have a Datsun 240Z which wasn't too bad.
Stribs

[quote=Stribs;101058]I was driving back from Rome on the autostrada, the car in front and myself pulled out to overtake a couple of lorries who were driving in close convoy.
We were doing about 120/125 (kph not mph) when suddenly this car screams up behind me flashing his lights, my first thought was that he wanted me to move out the way so he could pass.
To my left was a metal crash barrier – no way there.
To my right there were these 2 lorries – no gap between to safely go into.
As I was not a submarine I could not go under the car in front, neither was I an aeroplane so could not go over.
I could not brake and go back in behind the lorries as this car was up my jacksie.
By this time I had decided that he was just being friendly so as I pulled in having passed the lorries I waved back at him. :bigergrin:

Stribs[/quote]

Which road were you on exactly? It's just it sounds pretty normal for the A1 where traffic in the outside lane invariably cruises at around the 140/160 mark and even then you'll have vehicles sitting on your bumper practically nudging you out of the way after which they'll zoom past. I once - only once, never, ever again - left Rome in the rush hour and can only describe the Rome commuter traffic on the Rome/Orte stretch as low level flying. Bumper to bumper trucks on the inside lane, on the two lanes only stretches I was forced to drive at speeds I didn't know the car was capable of. Scary beyonds words.
V (posting early as body still on CET summer time...)

I advise friends who want to drive here to use their rear view mirrors only when they're intending to overtake. The rest of the time, you'll only get pointlessly stressed if you're aware of what the idiot two metres away from your back bumper is doing. If he rams into your rear, he's at fault and the chances are you'll be able to drive on while he'll have a disabled car.

I was on the GRA (the Rome ring road, for those who have not had the dubious pleasure of its acquaintance) once again earlier in the week during one of its many rush hours. I've become accustomed to encountering a proportion of fools and obnoxious gits on Abruzzo's roads, but Roman drivers are something else.

We passed two accidents which, in my experience, is not an unusual tally. The most amusing one was an older Fiat Panda whose typically skillful driver had achieved a one-car collision with the concrete central divider on a stretch where the wall was perfectly straight and no more than a metre from the edge of the left-hand lane. The driver had not just scrapped against the barrier, but had somehow managed to smack into it hard enough to bash in the front left side of the car.

As well as the police, an ambulance was in attendance and this, of course, created a huge tailback. Not just because one lane was blocked, but because almost every driver passing literally stopped for a second to have a good look at what had happened.

I wouldn't mind that so much if such rubber-necking left them chastened and a bit more cautious, but of course it doesn't, because all the jerks who drive at 180 kph a metre from the car ahead are convinced they're highly competent drivers.

The only positive thing about accidents in Italy is that the roads remain open unless something really serious happens. If a Fiat Panda should bump into the crash barrier on the M25, the British police would close the whole motorway down for three hours while the driver's bumps and bruises were treated on-scene before he was airlifted to a hospital. The incident would then be thoroughly investigated by a special team to determine if a crime had occurred before the car was carefully removed in order to preserve its evidence. Then the motorway would be swept for a quarter mile after the site to ensure there are no debris and finally the scrape marks on the barrier would be filled in and painted over. Never mind that the knock-on effects of this palaver bring all traffic in the greater London area to a standstill; the police have their job to do.

Al

I still find it amazing that we lived in Rome for 7 years and dad never had a scrape - although that was the 60's! Even then the Via del Mare used to be 'fun', but drivers backed off when dad put on his BEA uniform hat - which looked remarkably official and police-like!:-)

PS Geotherm - but the point is you have nowhere to go with all that power as there will no doubt be somebody in front of _you_ - probably a lorry which is going at 2K more than the one it's overtaking.. I used to have a battered old Marina with a very solid tow-bar and hitch and that certainly used to command respect in the UK from faster and shinier cars.:-)

The only car, the sight of which fills me with terror and fear, is an old FIAT Panda. No. Really...

Watch out for this one when in Lazio region around Rome !!!
[url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/3255094/Italian-police-to-use-200mph-Lamborghini.html]Italian police to use 200mph Lamborghini - Telegraph[/url]

[quote=Nardini;101080]The only car, the sight of which fills me with terror and fear, is an old FIAT Panda. No. Really...[/quote]
So that means that you're terrorised by approximately 80% of the cars on Italian roads? :bigergrin:

My favourite battered, grimy, ancient white Panda is the one that belongs to our shepherd neighbour which I've seen a few times with a couple of sheep on the back seat.

Al

That is the third replacement Lambo that they have had down there. There is another one that patrols the Autostrada south of Naples toward Reggio Calabria. I believe it still has it's wheels as well.
[IMG]http://vik.bitsofbytes.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/lamborghini_gallardo_italian_police_car.thumbnail.jpg[/IMG]

In fact, you can buy a model of the police Lamborghini for you children - although it isn't the latest one, it is still a Gallardo.

[IMG]http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/images/au/autoart-lamborghini-gallardo-police-car-in-blue.jpg[/IMG]

[quote=AllanMason;101075] If a Fiat Panda should bump into the crash barrier on the M25, the British police would close the whole motorway down for three hours while the driver's bumps and bruises were treated on-scene before he was airlifted to a hospital. The incident would then be thoroughly investigated by a special team to determine if a crime had occurred before the car was carefully removed in order to preserve its evidence. Then the motorway would be swept for a quarter mile after the site to ensure there are no debris and finally the scrape marks on the barrier would be filled in and painted over. Never mind that the knock-on effects of this palaver bring all traffic in the greater London area to a standstill; the police have their job to do.

Al[/quote]

Alan you obviously been away from the UK for so long that you have forgotten the mandatory 2 hours of post traumatic stress disorder counseling for the road sweepers and then the check that the motorway's human rights have not been abused.

The amount of unnecessary time that is taken up by "accidents" as well as the never ending roadworks is one of the main reasons we want to get out of here!

[QUOTE=AllanMason;

My favourite battered, grimy, ancient white Panda is the one that belongs to our shepherd neighbour which I've seen a few times with a couple of sheep on the back seat.

Al[/QUOTE]

OH really ....................maybe a little too much information :laughs:

[quote=AllanMason;101075]I advise friends who want to drive here to use their rear view mirrors only when they're intending to overtake. The rest of the time, you'll only get pointlessly stressed if you're aware of what the idiot two metres away from your back bumper is doing. If he rams into your rear, he's at fault and the chances are you'll be able to drive on while he'll have a disabled car.Al[/quote]

This is the best advise you will ever hear. Nothing else works, I know I have tried them all.

Mark

[quote=AllanMason;101075]The only positive thing about accidents in Italy is that the roads remain open unless something really serious happens. [/quote]

Oh, the good ol' GRA, don't you love it? I do the section from junction 10 to FCO twice a week sometimes and knowing the road quite well now, actually quite enjoy it. Love the stretch from around junction 2-5 going clockwise where there haven't been any lane markings for months! This is a complete free-for-all with cars sometimes 5 or 6 abreast.
But, Al, seriously, driving home from FCO a few Wednesdays back, you could see the smoke for miles and when we got up close there was a car on fire on the southbound carriageway just after you cross the Tiber. The police were there, they'd stopped the traffic, but only about 50m behind the fire (which was raging fiercely) and everyone was out (as usual) up dangerously close looking. And the opposite carriageway was open, people had pulled over or just stopped, dozens were standing on the central reservation watching. I was terrified the thing would exploid so put my foot down. But you do wonder what the British police would have done in similar circumstances.

[quote=AllanMason;101075]I advise friends who want to drive here to use their rear view mirrors only when they're intending to overtake.
Al[/quote]

Excellent advice. But it does deprive you of the mild pleasure of finding out where the bad driver behind you has come from, which can be an amusing game (as you can then swear at them to yourself with a regional or national identifier, e.g. 'another b.... milanesi').

Drivers with numberplates from provinces around me (CN, IM, SV) seem massively less likely to be offenders than people from Turin or Milan. And on the autostrada people with fast cars from Monaco are particularly frequent offenders, given how few cars are registered there. Perhaps they're so rich that they don't think that any road rules apply to them.

Overall though, in my area the notion of 'friendly Italian drivers' is not an ironic misnomer. For example, on the many single-track roads people are perhaps more likely to pull into passing places and wait than they are in similar areas in the UK. And everyone thanks each other assiduously whenever this happens, often winding down the windows and talking rather than just giving a little wave.

And the general standard of driving is little different to the UK, particularly UK rush hours on rural roads where you encounter almost as many idiots driving just as fast.