Search

Counter

An Englishman in Rome
News >> Rome
Posted by Administrator (admin) on Tuesday, 29th August, 2006 at 3:01 PM

Living in Rome (Part 1)

A large part of living in Rome is moving around therefore I will start my story with driving....

1. Driving

Many of my visitors ask how I can drive in Rome, they see it as chaotic and scary. I tell them driving in Rome can be fun or totally frustrating, depending on your mood that day and the weather. I started driving a few days after coming to Rome in 1990, I was forced to as the company apartment I was renting was in the very north of Rome, between 30mins and 2 hours from the center depending on the time of day. Not knowing my way around the city well I had memorised one route in and out of the city, which of course made things difficult when roads were blocked, and as any Roman can tell you this is often. I found that if I drove in the center lane, didn't change lanes every 2 milliseconds, I was fine.  After a bit you start to recognise when people are going to stop abruptly without any indication...like seeing rapid movement of the drivers head, or slight swerving or approaching a bar!

However, it still amuses me to see cars squeeze between other cars at the traffic lights to make a new lane, going beyond the lights so they can't see it when it changes then being left behind as the light changes and everyone drives around then. Other amusing things are

• indicating left and turning right
• going to the far left lane at lights then cutting across all cars to turn right
• smoking, using phones and waving hands while talking all at the same time (how do they steer)
• double or treble park in front of the bar so as to not walk more then the minimum distance possible
• double or treble park in a car park blocking everyone then go shopping
• driving less than 1 cm from the person in front while flashing your lights and beeping the horn on a single lane road
• or the same on a highway going 200 km/hour

Rain, now this causes huge problems to Rome traffic and often brings the city to a complete standstill. Romans don't really like rain, it scares them and to be honest, one of the reasons I live in Rome is because it doesn't rain that much!!  As soon as it starts to rain the traffic instantly doubles and everyone slows down to half speed...but still drive 1 cm from the car in front on slippery cobbled roads....I think the cobbled streets are maintained by the insurance companies, who see their businesses explode on rainy days.

Did I say driving in Rome and Italy can be fun, well it is.  Despite all the issues mentioned above, you can still drive as fast as traffic will allow, drink and drive (within moderation), park almost anywhere and ignore most traffic regulations that would get you either put in jail or fined in most other countries. 

2. Traffic bans, parking, and public transport

Language

Back