Traffic

One of the guys in Becca's office took his family out of town and lent us his car while they're gone. We took the opportunity to get a little bit out of Rome center, and go visit the kids school. Becca drove while I white-knuckled the maps in the passenger seat. Please see a word for word transcript of this adventure below:

Becca: This is a complicated intersection, which road do I take?
Me: Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhh!
Becca: Shut up, you big baby - that bus missed us by at least 6 inches. Which way now?
Me: AaaaaaaaaRrrrrrrrrrGgggggHhhhhhhhh!
Becca: Whatever. Help me find the signs for Cassia.
Me: AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!

The previous paragraph notwithstanding, it actually went quite well. Becca came over and picked us up from the hotel, and quite honestly, surprised me a bit. I truly expected her to immediately turn the keys over to me and refuse to drive, and that didn't happen. I had already planned out a general route by studying the map, and was prepared to either drive or navigate, depending on which she preferred. She was comfortable driving, and I made myself useful (I hope, anyway... but only my darling wife can say for sure) by giving turn by turn directions to the proper streets.

Traffic in Rome is nuts. There are 2 sets of rules to the traffic here: the technical rules of the road, and the actual rules that everyone follows when driving. Lane markers don't typically matter - on a road with 3 marked lanes in each direction, you will typically have 4 or 5 lanes of vehicles lined up at the intersections, with 3 or 4 actual lanes of traffic between the intersections, and at least 1, sometimes 2 lanes of parked cars on the side of the road. There are dedicated bus/taxi lanes on some roads, these restrictions are generally respected, but following this specific rule is by no means universal. Double parking is quite common, and traffic (by and large) simply makes allowances for the unexpected narrowing of lanes as if by magic.

More than one third of the vehicles on the roads are either motorcycles or motorscooters (generically referred to as motorinis), and most of the normal rules of traffic don't apply to them. They are encouraged to split lanes at any speed. If traffic is moving, they manage to get between and around the moving lanes of cars and find clear spaces for themselves. If traffic is stopped, they wind their way through the lanes of cars to the front of the intersection - at stop lights, a pack of motorinis is almost always at the front of the line.

Please note that this missive is penned from the perspective of someone who's spent more time in the central (read "tourist") areas of Rome than "real" Rome, but I have reason to believe that these same general rules apply outside of Rome central - limited observation suggests that this is the case, but I'll know more as the weeks go by.

Here's where this blog entry gets a bit wierd. I think it'll make sense, but bear in mind (while reading this) that I'm trying to get a point across.... we'll compare notes at the end to see how successful I've been.

As of this writing, Rome appears to be among the most polite and respectful cities I've ever been in. There are no periods of waiting for someone to let you into traffic, or putting your blinker on and hoping that someone lets you into a line of cars - it's almost as if it's your right to be in that lane, and no one has a problem with you asserting your right. You simply put your blinker on, start moving in the direction, and space will magically appear. There's no need to say "Thank you", or give that friendly little wave - in fact, they look at you with a strange look on their face if you do! It's almost like the look you would get in America if you effusively thanked the people on the elevator for stopping on your floor to pick you up. They didn't have a choice with regard to which floor(s) the elevator stopped at, and you have as much right to be on the elevator as they do.

For as busy as the streets are here, there is surprisingly little honking. The only honking that you hear is when someone stops in the middle of a moving lane of traffic without putting their hazards on.

Each driver "owns" as much of the road as the next driver, and there seem to be minimal problems with this concept of rolling mass ownership. The same concept applies (in most cases) when crossing the road on foot as well. Assuming you're at a crosswalk that's not at an intersection, you simply walk out into the crosswalk, and traffic stops. In that order. If you stand politely on the curb at the crosswalk, waiting for cars to stop to let you cross, I hope you packed a lunch... you're going to be there a while. The Romans appear to respect assertiveness. It's a switch from the way we all learned to cross the street, but here's what I suggest (while in Rome anyway... I wouldn't recommend this in Anytown, USA): wait until you've got at least 100 yards of room in the lane closest to you, and boldly stride into the first lane. By the time you're halfway across the first lane, the car in your lane will be coming to a stop (or edging behind you - you're done with that part of the lane, right?). Any cars in the next lane will have seen either the car in the first lane slow down, or have seen you starting to cross into their lane, and will have slowed down. Double check this out of the corner of your eye, and once you confirm that they're slowing down, keep walking straight through their lane. Continue until you're across the road. DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE CARS! That will instantly mark you as a tourist, and will skew your results.

Please note that I don't actually recommend striding boldly into an active lane of traffic. Watch how the traffic patterns work, and keep your head on a swivel. Be intelligent about how and when you assert your ownership of roads and crosswalks. That said, remember the preceding paragraph when you come visit, and see if it doesn't work like that.

Rome seems to hover on the fine edge of controlled chaos, and the inhabitants seem to be comfortable there. There are limited rules (which are actually heeded), and everyone thus far has been willing to make allowances for our inexperience in their culture.

This is truly an adventure, and we've only been here a couple of weeks!