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If we watch the drivers in Paris, Berlin, or Rome, we can see how their Army acted and reacted during WW II.
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The German drives as if the street is his, and the law says this lane goes here, and that stop-sign means they will always stop, so he pays little attention to the needs of others, he just follows orders and plows ahead. On the Autobahn, that means speed.
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The Italian drives as if there are no rules, and when there is a traffic jam or some other problem, he just gives up, throws his arms in the air, smiles as if to say, “No big deal, I wasn’t going anywhere anyway.”
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We have seen traffic jams in Paris, where, if one driver backed up a little, and the other driver turned a little, the jam would disappear. But when the Paris driver arrives at, or causes a traffic blockage, he will not employ any initiative to solve the gridlock, he just sits there with a pained expression on his face, waiting for someone to help him out of the mess..
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Most countries have traffic “Laws and Regulations.” Italy has traffic “Hints and Suggestions.” Three guesses what a red light means, or a left turn lane, or a two lane road, or a Do Not Enter sign.
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As we tried to leave Macaire, I could not find my way out of town in the direction we wanted to go. Emmy says that I now know a little about how most people feel when they drive in a strange place. No one said I was the perfect driver all the time, just most of the time. .
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For example in Los Angeles, and in Rome, Italy, people will be driving at 50 mph, on a street with a posted limit of 30 mph, and regardless of how much I blow the horn, they won’t move over and let me pass. (A letter in the Los Angeles Times.).
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In Sweden the drivers are required to drive with their headlights on, always. In the rear view mirror it appears we are leading a funeral procession..
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It’s funny how a line can be painted in the middle of the street for two lanes, but there will be three or four lanes of traffic. The drivers in Rome, Italy, let us know if there is space for three or four lanes, three or four there will be. Even the huge orange city busses followed those homegrown rules. Italy is crowded with beautiful, friendly, congenial people who welcome us, confuse us, charm us, disturb us, enrapture us, discombobulate us, and ensure that we have a fascinating vacation. .
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Of all the roads we’ve driven, we would not recommend the road along Italy’s Amalfi Coast for beginners. Not just because the extremely narrow, twisty, sometimes water level, sometimes cliff hanging road might be difficult to drive, but the unbelievably gorgeous scenery makes it almost impossible for the driver to keep his mind and eyes on the job at hand. .
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Drivers in Naples on Sunday morning seemed to ignore traffic signals more than usual. Maybe because it was Sunday, but when we would stop for a red light where there was no cross-traffic, the other drivers would blow their horn and angrily wave for us to go. .
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When you near the top of a mountain in Yugoslavia, you can be sure that just around the next curve there will be a little old lady in the middle of the road herding two goats. Drive as if you expect that, and neither of you will be surprised.
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One time while riding a crowded city bus, we noticed a lady reading what appeared (by the pictures in the book) to be a driver education manual. I mentioned to Emmy that I didn’t think they needed to know anything to drive in Rome..
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To successfully drive or walk in Paris, Rome, and most other cities, we must become aware of the eye movements of the drivers and pedestrians. They look straight ahead, and act as if we don’t exist. As the driver or the pedestrian proceeds, we can see him looking out of the corner of his eye, making sure we aren’t going to run over, or in front of him, but he will do anything except admit we are there..
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Suddenly the traffic jam in Italy was cleared, a car entered the tunnel at high speed, and as it came from the bright sunlight the driver was unable to see the next car start a U-turn not far behind us. In the mirror, I could see a terrible crash, then a stream of cars, all with drivers momentarily blinded, came racing into the tunnel. .
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When a traffic problem develops on a Paris street, the French driver starts to creep, millimeter by millimeter, to make sure he doesn’t get left out, and to make sure no one gets even a centimeter ahead. .
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When our driver (me) does something in the RV that causes, or results from a traffic complication, or that results in a driving problem, we get the feeling some Italian is saying, “That looks like fun, I must try that some time.”.
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Some Greek had been so kind as to place small stones around one hole, so it’s easier for the next driver to see the road is missing. There is plenty of room for the whole RV in that hole! .
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While driving on a highway near Copenhagen, Denmark, we saw a huge tour bus, with an enormous windshield, coming down the road toward us, but saw no driver. Then we noticed the bus was from England, and the driver’s seat is on the right side of the bus. We’ve seen that several times, but we never learn, we are always shocked..
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While driving through a small city in Poland we were given, and paid for in cash (maybe $5) right then and there, a traffic ticket for driving through a red-light. It should come as no surprise to hear the driver received more grief from the passenger than he did from the Polish police. .
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young lady at the Swiss Air office who had just returned from a vacation in the US. She really loved it, said the people were genuinely friendly and polite, and said that American drivers, especially in Southern California, were an agreeable, pleasant improvement over drivers in Europe. .
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An Italian man told us the roads in Greece are almost impassible and the drivers are almost impossible. That’s not what we found at all. Can’t imagine an Italian complaining about the way someone in another country drives. The pot and the kettle, the mote and the beam, a silk purse and a sow’s ear, … ..
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I was the driver and and my responsibility was to find the most beautiful spots to park the RV for meals. In Budapest, in 1980 while the Berlin Wall still stood, we went to the top of a hill in Pest, overlooking Budapest..
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In many countries, you can turn right on red ONLY if it’s marked wt an interrupting green light pointing to the right.

I’ve recently noticed that drivers are becoming more disciplined in some European countries, probably b/c the fees are quite high if you break the rules.