The reputation of Italian drivers precedes them: They’re fast, wild and unconcerned with “rules of the road.”
Could they also possibly be … relaxed?
And could bicycling in Italian traffic really be … fun?
I got to experience the thrill and chill of riding in Italian traffic during a spring trip to Sicily. It’s not for the faint of heart. It helped enormously that I’ve ridden on Chicago-area streets my whole life.
I rode through the unbelievably busy city of Palermo, then both east and west along the coasts from there. Later I was based outside the northeast Sicilian city of Taormina and rode up to Messina as well as southwest nearly to Catania.
I learned that if I rode through coastal towns, I had no choice but to ride through traffic. There are few bike lanes, and even if there are, they’re usually thin and in poor condition. There are certainly no shoulders. With a few exceptions, bicycling infrastructure is not a thing, even if cycling itself is in Italy.
I did not ride much inland — certainly not over the hills and farmland of the legendary Sicilian interior, through which many bike tours traverse (check out the “Sicily Divide”). I was riding on my own trying to see the beautiful blue Mediterranean Sea as often as possible.
The ‘rules’
It may not seem like it at first, but if you watch and experience Sicilian traffic more closely, you see there really is a protocol.
Yes, the driving is fast, and it’s aggressive. But it’s, dare I say, a respectful aggressive.
Everyone understands how it works — which is basically, if there’s any bit of open space, you take it. That’s whether you’re steering a car, truck, motorbike, mop-ed or bicycle.
All are welcome as long as you can keep the pace. People will stop, for just a moment, for others turning into traffic, turning out of it, leaving a parking spot or trying to get into a parking spot.
And pedestrians. Drivers definitely stop for pedestrians. No question.
(I have heard from locals, especially transplants even from other parts of Italy, that driving can still be stressful and aggravating.)
Bicyclists are largely part of traffic; they’re not pedestrians, for whom bicyclists also must stop. Drivers will wait for slower bicyclists, and they’ll pass them if there’s room.
Riding through towns usually means the streets are narrow and the traffic speed is low, or at least not highway speed. So if you’re a road cyclist, it’s realistic to ride along with auto traffic, especially when it’s busier and the drivers are forced to slow down anyway.
So I often found myself moving right into the middle of the street. I was stopping and starting (and restarting quickly) as much as the drivers were.
Silent communication
The other key thing to know about driving in Sicily is that there’s no communication — positive or negative.
In a stark contrast to drivers in America especially the Chicago area, Sicilian drivers don’t yell at cyclists.
They don’t signal to cyclists, either. They won’t tell you to go ahead, and they won’t interrupt your path. You might think they do if you’re not used to the pace, because they might cut it a little close — but then everybody cuts it close to everybody in Sicilian traffic.
So, you’re not expected to signal yourself, or wave thank you. The feeling seems to be, don’t waste your time gesturing.
Just go. Don’t hesitate. Keep going. The traffic flow may be crazy, but there is a traffic flow, and everyone’s in sync.
In that way, the wild Sicilian drivers are … calm. Here in the south, the Italians are pretty chill.
The game is on
The Sicilians don’t even honk angrily. They do honk a lot, but they’re polite honks only to tell you they’re coming by. (I got an angry honk only once when I jumped into an emerging new right lane in front of a speedy moto driver; he would have preferred I just stay in the left lane.)
With all these “rules” in mind, I knew what to do. Jump into traffic, take the space when it’s there, yield to pedestrians, follow the flow. I slowed down when the cars in front of me did, and I accelerated to keep up when they did.
To be sure, I had to be on high alert constantly. Drivers might suddenly emerge from the side, looking for their little space to take. Pedestrians, left without sidewalks in many places, also often have to take some of the street. The risk of getting doored is high — though people calmly walk to their driver’s-side doors even in the rush of traffic. Because again, pedestrians are highly respected.
The streets, especially in and around Palermo, may not be in good shape, so I had to ride bumps and dodge potholes and sewers. Overall, I had to be ready to alternately swerve, brake, coast and speed up.
Focusing so much and executing nifty moves put me in a kind of flow state. It may not be something I want to do on a regular basis or when I’m tired, but riding in Sicilian traffic became a thrill.
Compared to here and there
So Sicilian traffic is not like the suburban Chicago’s. In our area, the traffic varies so much, and drivers vary even from suburb to suburb, neighborhood to neighborhood. Some obviously don’t like being cut off by anybody, let alone a bicyclist.
And Chicago drivers often demand signals from cyclists. We cyclists should make eye contact with drivers to make sure they see us before we proceed. I’m sure you know that many drivers don’t like bicyclists on roads at all.
Chicago does have a lot of bicycling infrastructure, even protected lanes in the city. Still, rush hour in the Chicago area is chaos, and worse, inconsistent. The Sicilian rush actually feels controlled in its own fast-paced way.
Sicily is not Munich. Munich is extremely orderly, with nice bike lanes or off-road paths. And in Munich, the bicyclists on the paths stop at red lights — even if it’s a tiny road with no traffic coming and a long wait. It’s remarkable; they won’t move.
Manhattan resembles Sicily. The New York City island may have bike lanes, but cars are all over them, and when my wife and I rode through town trying to get to a bike trail, we had to weave tightly between cars, and cars wove among each other.
But there was at least a bike trail to go to.
Then there’s a place like San Diego. The city touts some bike friendliness and even bike lanes. But the lanes often are not protected, instead just glorified shoulders, and there are a lot of cars brushing by. Again, bike paths especially along the coast are relief.
Florida is much the same. There can be a very bike-friendly city like St. Petersburg, where bicyclists and drivers alike respect each other, but otherwise, stick to trails and not the poor bike lanes on the busy wide roads.
No matter, there’s nothing quite like the thrill and controlled chill of riding in Sicily. Here’s a look at some of its glorious traffic.
• See more road bicycling videos in this Sicily playlist.
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