Driving in Europe

If someone says, “Let’s play a game,” the first thing you do is find out which game; chess, checkers, baseball, or football. Once you recognize the game, you now know the rules.

Same thing with driving in Europe. Once you determine if you will be driving on a German Autobahn; around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris; through the heart of Rome; in the hills of Yugoslavia; on the “wrong” side of the road in England; or on Route 1 in Greece; you know each has its own strategy, so you must learn the rules, and drive accordingly. If you drive in any of these locations employing the driving style you use in the US, you could have a problem.

If we watch the drivers in Paris, Berlin, or Rome, we can see how their Army acted and reacted during WW II. 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.

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.

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.” 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, and … … ! Amazing.

We remember the Italian soldiers we talked to at McDonald’s in Rome. They assured us, “There are no Italian soldiers, only Italian uniforms.”

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.