Italian drivers - a revelation

[johnnyBv8]

Just back from a couple of weeks in Italy. The Italians have a reputation for crazy driving, but I really think they have a much better approach to over here in the UK. We were mainly but not entirely in rural areas, and whilst some people were driving quickly, there were also a lot of very slow drivers, and we were making quicker progress than the majority.

What seems to be refreshingly lacking is the agression and ego of UK drivers...if someone wants to get past they drive very close to you, letting you know that they want to get past. However, they do it without agro or bullying. If I wanted to get past and drove close behind the car in front they barely glanced in their mirror (if at all!), and often pulled over a bit. If someone pulls out in front of another car they just slow down or drive round them, instead of the UK approach of flashing headlights and flicking the finger (whether or not the manouvre even necessitated a change in speed).

I did notice they wandered around the round a bit - very often the car coming towards you is somewhere on your side of the road, but they always seem to wander back in time

In two weeks: lots of enjoyable driving, no aggression, no crashes!

Anyone else found this, or find driving styles in other countries better/worse?

Edited by johnnyBv8 on Saturday 21st September 12:17

[tuffer]

I noticed slow driving on rural roads but on anything with more than one lane they had an inability to stay within the designated lane markings usually straddling two lanes.

[kambites]

They do, however, have around twice our road fatality rate by almost any metric.

When I spent a couple of weeks driving 'round Italy a few summers ago, the single biggest things that stood out were how empty the rural roads were and how terrifying driving in the cities was (mostly due to the number of crazy moped riders).

Edited by kambites on Saturday 21st September 12:16

[deltashad]

It's like this in many other countries. Eastern Europe is similar, horns are beeped regularly, people speed and overtake where they shouldn't and no-one wants to kill anybody.

In the UK if you try to overtake someone they act like you've just grabbed their wives breast

[johnnyBv8]

kambites said:

They do, however, have around twice our road fatality rate by almost any metric.

Fair point! I'm not saying they're good drivers, just that they're not aggressive in the same way drivers are over here.

[kambites]

johnnyBv8 said:

Fair point! I'm not saying they're good drivers, just that they're not aggressive in the same way drivers are over here.

In very few places are drivers as aggressive as in the south east of England.

[daveparry]

We too have just come back from a weeks holiday, in Sirmione region, the driving was quite sensible in the main and on a circumnavigation of Lake Garda we found the general road behaviour very good, especially the motorcyclists, but not moped riders lol!