Before driving in Italy it’s important to understand the difference between a law and a social rule. Laws may be formally enacted by a government to tell people how to behave, but social rules don’t need to be publicly expressed because it is the logic behind the way people actually do behave. Sometimes a law may be enacted but neither enforced nor abided: in this case both the law-making and law-abiding processes follow a larger social rule. In Italy there are laws on how to drive. But the social rules are quite different.

1. As a foreigner coming to Italy you might be used to the principle “keep right, pass left”. Unfortunately this can’t explain why on the 4-lane highway (autostrada A1) between Modena and Bologna the vehicles congregate exclusively in the two left lanes. A slower car can of course be overtaken from either the right or the left.

   The fact that the formal traffic laws aren’t obeyed doesn’t mean that Italian highways are chaos. They only follow a different logic. The general rule is that the more important you want to feel, the further to the left you should drive. This explains why drivers of more expensive cars tend to stay to the left even when being repeatedly overtaken on the right.

2. Frightened by the car behind you who sticks close enough to read the washing instructions on your T-shirt? Does it seem that the term “safe distance” doesn’t translate into Dante’s tongue? Actually, distanza di sicurezza does exist in Italian, but it’s better understood as the further away that jerk gets from you, the safer you are. Or if you’re into racing sports, hit the gas and put some “security distance” between the two of you.

   Tailgating on Italian highways isn’t random or chaotic but follows a precise formula: D=(V1/V2)*(1/I). D is the distance the car behind you leaves between your vehicles (in centimeters), V1 is the value of your car, V2 is the value of the one behind you, and I is how Important the driver wants to feel. The more expensive his or her car, or the more he or she wants to feel important, the more you can smell the pesto they ate for lunch.

3. Notice those dashed white lines painted on the road? In your home country they probably mean to separate the lanes of traffic. In Italy however they are lanes in and of themselves (verii et proprii) for two-wheeled vehicles. Keep clear.

Maria’s post on driving in Rome (in Catalan): sotp.