Italy is a parallel universe of driving. I'll explain it this way...The race was on and I hit the hammer at about 4000 rpm in fifth gear, all 172 hp tearing at the winding ribbon of Autostrada (the Italian toll highway system) ahead. But it was no good. The turbo-diesel Chrysler Voyager had at least 15 mph on me and just sailed past. What the hell? Something felt very wrong at this point; although I once saw a soccer mom do a nerve-wracking 76 mph, minivans are usually driven with all the intoxicating speed of a tractor. Yet, here was a man, driving his family (wife, kids, Grandma in back) at more than 100 mph-in a Voyager-for 30 miles straight.
This is not to say that there is no speed limit on the Autostrada; the fastest posted speed is 130 km/h, or 80 mph. Unlike in the United States, where local and state government rely on vehicular citation for a large chunk of income, astronomical taxes in Italy provide enough assets so that highway police and autovelox (photo radar) are few and far between. Though one might think that due to the high speed differentials and aggressive driving on the Autostrada, these four lanes (two in either direction) would be thick with bloody carnage, accidents rarely happen here. This is because while most anything goes in Italy (forget about the Catholic church; our moral Puritanism shocks them), Italians strictly follow their "Ten Commandments of Car Ownership."
While we enthusiasts comprise a fairly small segment of car owners in the United States, in Italy, general interest in all things automotive is pervasive. Italians, passionate about most things in life, are passionate about a few things in particular: Food, beauty, politics, soccer and mechanized transport. In the world of cars, they have much to be proud of: Ferrari, Lamborghini, Abarth, Lancia, Iso, Isotta-Fraschini, Maserati, DeTomaso and carrozzerie (body stylists) like Pininfarina, Giugiaro, Vignale, Ghia, Bertone and Scaglietti. It was, in fact, Italian car design that came to define the post-WWII American automobile fsthetic, with cars like Raymond Loewy's sleek Studebakers. Even the '49 Ford borrowed heavily from the taught, light Italian designs.
With their profoundly historic connection to motorsport, design and elite automobile construction, it is with little surprise that we see enthusiasm for all things automotive so deeply etched into the collective Italian psyche. 10 Commandments Of Italian Car Ownership
1. Thou shalt respect lane discipline.With the glaring exception of California, most American drivers seem to understand the regulating principle of lane discipline. Theoretically, the slowest traffic should be in the right-hand lane, with traffic moving faster as you progress to the left. The leftmost lane, however, should be for passing only and otherwise left clear. It is amazing to ply the three-lane California 101 freeway and see 70 percent of traffic queued in the leftmost lane. Alternately, to see people enter the freeway and veer across three lanes of traffic only to plop their inattentive, cell phone-holding butts in the fast lane.
The first thing we American drivers need to do collectively when we go to Europe is wake up, because we are so used to the 55-mph-induced coma that sucks every amount of joy from driving that it can render us dangerous in places that require more involvement. Though many Americans' primary take on drivers in Italy is that they are simply aggressive maniacs, they miss that most are extremely attentive and sveglie, or aware, at all times, and that supposed chaos actually yields better efficiency.
2. Thou shalt pass in the minimum distance necessary.In order to pass on a two-lane road (that are typically fairly wide), the overtaking car pulls off a couple feet from the rear bumper of the slower car, pulls out halfway into the other lane to check for traffic, overtakes and immediately returns to the proper side. This style of passing is immensely more efficient and safer in that it allows cars with small speed differentials to overtake each other.
3. Due to thine own incompetence or that of thy vehicle, thou shalt not hold up other drivers.
In relation to the first two commandments, the self-righteous "I'm going fast enough and they don't need to go any faster" attitude prevalent here simply does not fly there. If you are slower, for whatever reason, you allow others to pass, always.
4. Thou shalt know thy vehicle's capabilities and be able to control it in all situations.
Most American cars, and most foreign cars destined for U.S. soil, are designed with the understanding that they will likely not see many miles at speeds more than 75 mph, with the majority of those driven on lazy highways and suburban, squarely laid roads. Cars for the European market, however, are conceived and constructed with appreciation for the fact that any car, from the cheapest Fiat 600 on through to a MB 600SL, may likely see its top speed tested on a daily basis, and has brakes and suspension systems tuned accordingly. Case in point is the Opel Omega, sold in the United States as the Cadillac Catera, Saturn SL and Saab 9-5, whose suspensions are quite softened for the U.S. market. Another example is our very own project Focus. After installing the stock European-spec suspension, the Focus came alive, its wonderful chassis finally tuned and challenged.
American highway engineers seem to take great pride in making any and every road they build or rebuild as straight as possible, removing those scary and dangerous curves. In Europe, however, a great road is celebrated, left to wind its way down a mountain or parallel God's own racecourse, the river. A side benefit of the prevalence of challenging roads is that for those who negotiate these roads daily, their level of driving competence is raised, whether consciously or not.
5. Thou shalt keep thine eyes open at all times for other forms of transport.
Though this is fairly self-explanatory, cars are barely a majority on Italian roads, with bikes, scooters, motorcycles, Apes (three and four-wheeled mini-pickups), delivery trucks, semis, etc. ever-present in daily life.
6. Thou shalt keep thine eyes open for the blue autovelox (photo radar) bars mounted on parked cars and on highway overpasses.
Although portable radar mounted in patrol cars is starting to be used in a few major metropolitan areas, most of what little speed control exists is found in the form of Autovelox. Marked or unmarked police cars are parked in high traffic urban areas, using a constant-on radar signal and an integral camera to snap a shot of the rear license plate. If you are nailed, you can expect astronomical fines: Up to $120 for 6 mph over, up to $470 for up to 24 mph over and up to $1,175 for more than 24 mph over.
7. Thou shalt always keep at least one hand free at all times to gesticulate to other drivers.
What can we say? A highly effective means of personal expression, and about as Italian as Ragf.
8. Thou shalt regard speed limits, traffic signals and road signs as open to interpretation.
Popular Italian reasoning dictates that the further south you drive, the more lawless the driving style. Extending the philosophy found in all of Italy that all stop signs indicate a yield, supposedly in the South, red lights are merely a suggestion.
9. Thou shalt buy as expensive a car as possible.
Fairly analogous to the import "scene," central to Italian culture is the bella figura, or material presentation of self and others' conception of you. In a country with socialized healthcare and where school and college are basically paid for, you can live to the extent of your means. This means wearing the most expensive clothes, eating well and buying the ritziest/fastest/nicest car you can afford. (The opposite, however, is sometimes also true, whereby rich people buy the cheapest car as a statement and/or runabout).
10. Thou shalt appreciate thy car as not just transportation, but as a statement of self.