modicasa

When I lived in Naples the carabinieri stopped a family on a moped. Family being dad (driving) son standing in front of him, daughter behind and mother behind her with babe in arms and dog lying across the floor board, all without crash helmets. The carabiinieri said - 'you could all be killed' and the man (clutching his groin) said 'Are you trying to put the malocchio on me'?'----

37100

You forgot the sleeping policemen aka launch pad!

Lorna at Vicenza

All the old drivers here stop at those. They actually stop dead still and then set off again very slowly in first gear. I'm behind them screaming "it's a speed bump not a stop. It's there to slow you down. You don't have to come to a complete halt, especially in your old Punto. What are you afraid of? Ruining the shock absorbers?"

sunnysider

I have a vague impression that it might be getting a bit better but i am still frequently shocked/outraged by the way pedestrians on zebras are treated. I have seen it all - cars dodging round folk crossing zebras, old folk and women with babes in arms forced to retreat from a zebra they are already crossing. I cycle a fair bit in italy and have been honked at by a vehicle behind me for being rash enough to stop to allow someone to cross. As a pedestrian i am quite assertive on zebras but i have several times been passed so close that i have banged on the car's roof. Once i did this and, tellingly i thought, three old crones by the road tutted at my apparently antipatico behaviour. And there's the problem - this blatantly selfish git like behaviour persists because the various police forces don't bother to enforce the rules and way too many italians think it excessive, antipatico or whatever for mere pedestrians to object. My strongest contempt is reserved for the gits who - after you have called their speeding bluff and forced them to stop by assertively walking out and facing them down - then play the victim complete with exaggerated outrage. They are the schettini of the road.

Pulaski

#7 above.

Maybe1day

Last year a group of us were on the zebra crossing and a scooter had to slow down, as he did so he gave us a load of abuse with most of the choice Italian words.... My sister in law returned most of them........ (Liguria)
N. Italy cut someone up and you'll get agro.
S.Italy, cut someone up, nothing it's normal, just watch out for the plastic bag of rubbish being thrown out of the window by the passenger. (Naples)

sunnysider

Yes.

I could reel off a whole load of examples.

Anyone any idea how things could be improved?

Though such things were often derided in the UK, maybe a series of public information films?

Now here is a striscia pedonale.

When somone is crossing or even starts to cross, stop.

That old slow person may be, if you look more closely, your granny.

Now you don't want to kill granny do you?

Che bruta figura.

Sounds damn patronising of course. Shouldn't be needed.

(But then they did run a series recently on taxes along the simple lines of - pay your taxes, your taxes pay for your children's hospitals, schools bla bla bla bla.)

My favoured technique these days when crossing an Italian zebra is to push a light bike out in front of me. It works very well generally though of course I don't always have the bike with me.

Sometimes, when I have forced someone slam on the brakes and stop, but who clearly didn't want to, by just walking out assertively and making eye contact, I have done an ironic (ok - profoundly sarcastic) bow in front of their oh so impressive car.

Of course the locals doubtless think me quite mad, antipatico, anglo-saxon whatever.

I am encouraged that in Cagliari there have been some protests about poor treatment of pedestrians, particularly on zebras. There have been a few deaths, including old people. So I'll keep eye-balling and sometmes bowing when I'm in Italy.

Maybe1day

What peeves me the most is the total disrespect for the continuous white line at traffic lights and in general. The culprits are those on mopeds and scooters etc. In the summer, it is not unusual in Liguria to have a score of these in front of you when the lights change, Many of them are amazingly slow and wobbly to get away. Cyclists also come in for their fair share especially when they are all bunched up or riding abreast. Sometimes I can understand the Maroccan in Calabria that mowed them down especially in the build up to the Milano/Sanremo.

BRIAN 1

hi,perhaps the above lessons should be applied to the cyclists in london that constantly run red lights and hit mums with babies on zebras,cheers brian.

highlander1

That lesson should also very much be given to lorry and bus drivers that regularly hit and kill ciclyst in London.

BRIAN 1

hi,exactly what i meant,riding on blind side of turning lorries etc and running red lights,cheers brian.

highlander1

Are you a cyclist or have you ever cycled in traffic ?In London or anywhere else ?....no?
... I though not !

BRIAN 1

hi,back to thread.the crossing protocol here has improved recently,perhaps due to new law i didnt know about.i have driven over crossing with someone just stepping on it because round here they are so faded you cant see until last second but i am good 99% of the time.the problem with roundabouts is they dont know the protocol either some twat will pull straight out on me or what happened in our village recently,i was waiting at stop line when a woman stopped in the middle of empty roundabout to let me on.just lucky the car is still in one piece after 2 years,cheers brian.

BRIAN 1

hi,yes i rode a bike in london when i was an apprentice from 1968 to 1972,the last time was last year in centre parcs.i have been a van driving london plumber for 40 odd years so have a bit of experience,cheers brian.ps it was never a white van,so maybe i can be excused.

sunnysider

Now now - an awful comment.

it isn't a crime for a bunch of cyclists to go out for a ride/chain gang. Though of course you would expect folk to allow traffic to pass when noticed. Most racers (I'm not one) are sensible polite riders I think. I am sure capoboi has seen them many a time (impeccably turned out of course - Sards are Italians) doing the run from Cagliari to Villasimius and back.

I don't know what the law in Italy is on riding abreast - maybe someone can (politely I hope without rabid anti--cycling venom) tell me.

Despite what many people think, it is legal in the UK. But again, on an unsuitable road, or if it was holding traffic up, you would expect cyclists to move over. In my experience (I have led many rides in London and the home counties) cyclists do.

I repeat - it is legal in the UK - though this wasn't known to the *** in a big van who shouted to us that it wasn't as he aggressively cut into a group of us. The ignoramus was soon put right when a friend of mine caught up with the van, driver pulls window down to give him a mouthful, my friend pulls out his metropolitan police warrant card!

I won't bother replying to Brian's off topic off the wall comments.

As a cylist in London most of the time and sometimes in Sardinia I must say that the sards are generally excellent with cyclists. Give you plenty of room. Don't honk the horn but just a toot to let you know that they are coming past. It's the attitude to pedestrians from a minority but a very very significant minority, that I have severe problems with.