Reflections on Rome

   The latest automobile sensation to hit North America is the Smart Car. In Europe, the Smart Car is only slightly smaller than every other car on the road. On the streets of Rome, the Mini Cooper is a large car. Sure, there are some luxury cars to be found; a few Mercedes, Lancias, Alfa Romeos, but most of those are being driven by plain clothed Carabinieri, state police, or government security. Large vehicles are simply impractical in the narrow streets of old Europe.
   A word about driving in Rome: don't. Rules of the road exist, but 'red light means stop' is about the only one I've seen anyone actually pay attention to. Lines on the road, when they exist at all, are uniformly ignored. Cars and motor scooters park anywhere they can find a space. It is common to see someone fold in their side view mirrors in order to squeeze through a particularly tight alleyway. Anyone who leaves their car parked on the side of the road and doesn't fold in their mirrors is likely to come back to one of them dangling.
   The little motor scooters, commonly referred to as Vespas, but now made by every motorcycle company, are the most numerous vehicles on the road. They are driven by every segment of the population, from young children (although, in the city, drivers must be of age, and licensed to be on the road), to old men, to business people commuting to and from work, as many women as men.
   They completely ignore every rule of the road, including the one about red lights. They will take any opening available to get ahead of the traffic. I have seen them jump sidewalks, go across medians, and down one way streets the wrong way. At every traffic light, they weave their way in and out of the stopped cars until they get to the front of the line of traffic. When the light turns green, it looks like the start of a formula 1 race for Vespas, as ten to twenty of them leap away from the line, criss-crossing and jockeying for position.

   Picture yourself driving along a one-way street. The way is narrow. Parked cars line both sides of the street, leaving just enough room to carefully squeeze through. Ahead of you, a delivery van has stopped, completely blocking the road while its driver carries a package into a nearby business.
   In any North American city I've ever been in this is a text book provocation to instant, insane road rage. In Rome,you would just wait patiently until the driver returned to his truck, and moved along. You understand that he has  a job to do, and has nowhere else he can go, and he understands that he is blocking traffic, and is moving as fast as he can. In three days in Rome I have only heard a car horn honked in impatience twice.