Revision on driving in Italy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeSzFtqLxQ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkInkNMpI1Q&feature=related

I discovered these vids while re-visiting websites full of tips for driving in Italy..actually it resonates for driving in Aus...especially the part on tail-gating

I remember with some dread getting lost in Agrigento and finding my self driving in the old part of the town where the roads were so narrow I had to pull the wing mirrors in. Very similar to this:

I can also recall inadvertently driving into a Treviso pedestrian precinct ...realising my mistake at the same time as I spotted one of these:

followed by a  panicked escape complete with many turns (hopefully so they couldn't follow me!). It was only later that I realised that these guys would not be interested in this sort of crime..the ones I needed to be worried about were these guys:

having read the following I'm going to stay well clear of Florence unless using public transport:

From The Florentine (issue no. 95 February 12, 2009)

Too much of a bad thing

Traffic fines line city coffers

Every 40 seconds, a motorist in Florence receives a traffic violation according to figures recently released by city officials. Traffic police issue approximately 90 tickets every minute, 1,253 tickets a day.

Of the 859,959 traffic violations that issued by traffic police in 2008, 457,613 were issued to motorists who entered the limited traffic zones without the required permit; 250,415 were given to drivers who parked in no-parking zones; 22,904 were issued for speeding; and 7,700 were given for having run a red light.