The mad, bad and dangerous Italian driver has become a cliche. The reality is very different.
This realisation dawned on me one day in Sicily’s Ragusa. I’d turned into a narrow street that climbed a hill when I saw the one-way sign, and my way was wrong. I put the VW into reverse but now I was blocking a bus. Reversing was tricky. Edge forward, edge back, then do it all over again, but the bus driver wasn’t fazed, nor were the cars backed up behind it, not a toot.Earlier on that same trip, driving through the hills north of Terni in Umbria, I got stuck behind an ambulance.
The mad, bad and dangerous Italian driver has become a trope, fixed in timid minds, especially British, American and Australian minds. My answer – when in Rome, etc. Behind the wheel, Italian drivers are often compassionate. Kindness to cyclists is ground into their DNA. If you’re negotiating a tight spot, they sympathise. Need to merge? Put your blinker on and they’ll oblige.
What they will not tolerate is incompetence, closely followed by timidity. Italian roads breed a special kind of driver and apart from the autostradas and state highways, many of those roads were plumbed through walled hilltop villages with narrow passages built for defence.Even in a tiny Fiat, most probably manual, negotiating those roads will challenge drivers nurtured on Australia’s boulevards and they commit some cardinal mistakes.
There is, however, another driver that terrifies even the Italians and that’s the one from Andorra. If you see a licence plate denoting this tiny mountainous principality, steer clear. Mad, bad and dangerous doesn’t even come close.is a Sydney-based writer and photographer who has been writing travel articles since 1982. Michael is Traveller's resident Tripologist, answering your travel questions and offering expert tips and advice.
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why Italians are the world’s best driversThe mad, bad and dangerous Italian driver has become a cliche. The reality is very different.
Read more »
Why Italians are the world’s best driversThe mad, bad and dangerous Italian driver has become a cliche. The reality is very different.
Read more »
Numbers game: why rankings matter in tennis – and why they can distractFor Tsitsipas they are a motivation, for Keys a joyless diversion, but in an age of live updates they loom large for all players
Read more »
Why Hayne’s convictions were quashed - and why he might not face a retrialA series of messages on social media were at the heart of Jarryd Hayne’s successful appeal against his sexual assault convictions.
Read more »
Why Hayne’s convictions were quashed - and why he might not face a retrialA series of messages on social media were at the heart of Jarryd Hayne’s successful appeal against his sexual assault convictions.
Read more »
Why Hayne’s convictions were quashed - and why he might not face a retrialA series of messages on social media were at the heart of Jarryd Hayne’s successful appeal against his sexual assault convictions.
Read more »