Frogger Anyone?

Today while enjoying my 15 minute "pausa" (break) from Italiaidea I had a revelation. As I was trying to cross the street to get some gelato, I realized that Rome is just one giant, and very real, game of Frogger.

Typical Rome traffic.

For those of you who had the pleasure of having a PlayStation (original) and chose to spend hours trying to cross the busy streets in Frogger, I hope that one day you travel to Rome where you can put your gaming skills to a real life test. For those of you unfortunate people who did not get to play Frogger, you will certainly be at a disadvantage, simply because you did not get to practice crossing a busy street where cars, trucks, and vespas do not stop with the comfort of having 3 or more lives to spare per game.

"Commit to the cross" is one of the first things that I learned in Rome. Dr. Dawson's words of wisdom have been echoed every time a Loyola or CUA student crosses the street.

Frogger

In Italy there appears to be very little concern for the rules of the road. It being a city, it is understandable that traffic will build up, large buses will take up half of the narrow street and drive as slow as they wish, and that pedestrians will choose to dart out in the middle of the street at any given time. In Rome, the absence of lanes and the freedom enjoyed by those who ride a vespa or some form of a motorcycle is frightening when cars weave in and out of other motorists as the small vespas do. Double parking can occur almost anywhere at any time and if the person infront of you is moving too slowly, feel free to drive around them and enjoy some time on the wrong side of the road until you can leave them far behind.

For the most part, cars and motorcycles will stop for someone crossing a street, however one should not take this for granted. Once you have chosen to cross the street, the best approach is "to commit." Stopping mid-cross will most likely result in fear, injury, death, or an unpleasant exchange of words between you and the driver. In most cases, the driver will stop at the absolute last minute while you are crossing, making it a very real thought that you might actually get hit.

My piece of advice: always cross behind an Italian. They seem to know what they are doing.