Roman Question of the Day: If All Roads Lead To Rome, How Does Anyone Ever Get Out Of Rome?

The concepts of traffic lanes and right of way remain as incomprehensible in Italy as the Atkins diet. As this picture taken yesterday attests, Italians continue to treat signs as entirely discretionary matters when it comes to driving or parking. In this picture, a street was virtually shutdown due to traffic when the driver in the silver car (an impeccably dressed businessman) simply parked in the middle of street and walked away. That’s it. Close enough for Rome, arrivederci! He just walked away and never looked back.

By the way, there were four police officers watching amusedly on the corner. They seemed far more interested in the class of teenage school girls crossing nearby.

The Romans were of course famous for building roads. I imagine that with the creation of the first such road, chariots and carts immediately created the first Roman traffic jam. Over the years, I have found that where there are two Romans, there is a traffic jam.

We previously posted hilarious traffic jams in Italy, including this great scene. This particular sign may explain the problem: someone is stealing the traffic lines.

Since we will be driving in Sicily (starting tomorrow), this video is a bit unnerving as to what to expect: