Italian driving

I've had much time to ponder this subject...

First rule of Italian driving: What's behind me is not important. This is an old joke from "The Gumball Rally". Still funny though.
Further rules seem to be -
What's in front of me isn't all that important either.
Speed limits are ignored unless speed cameras are around.
No passing zones and road markings that would indicate the same (turning lanes) are totally ignored.

Passing is a national sport. Everyone passes everywhere. Motorcycles doubly so. The conventional wisdom of not passing when there's oncoming traffic is ignored. Oncoming traffic is expected to move right to make room. This seems to work pretty well. It does make for brisk progress on curvy mountain roads.

Drivers turning into your lane will cut you off, though usually with enough room left to slow down. Seemingly more so when you're on a bike, because you're expected to pass immediately anyway. This is refreshing, because in more structured countries you're always worried if someone won't see you and cut you off. Here, you know what's going to happen.

I try to adapt my driving to the situation and thus my passing habits have become more, um, liberal. I'm going to have to watch that when I'm back in Germany. It's still quite clear though that I'm not a native and I still get passed by cars in town sometimes because I don't go fast enough.