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No one can cut such a bella figura or prove himself such a furbo (big shot) behind the wheel as the Italian. He passes on the right, double passes on the left, triple parks, turns left from the right-hand lane, lunges at pedestrians, ogles the girls, looks at his handsome self in the mirror, waves his arms wildly and shrieks "criminali" and "bastardi" at other drivers. He plays Roman roulette, which means hurtling into an intersection without looking to left or right. The one thing he likes better than passing a whole row of cars is passing the car that is passing them. No wonder that Americans arriving at the military base at Naples are prudently taught "defensive driving."
The only time a European driver behaves is when he visits a neighboring country. Then he is likely to be sane and slow. Naturally. He is scared of all those crazy foreign drivers.
* Right answer: "I must reduce my speed, overtake or pass, leaving a wide margin, and always carefully looking out for the movements of the elements of the column; I must never cut through a cortege."