Pedestrians Beware

My experience, in Italy do not make eye contact or otherwise look at the driver. If they think you have seen them, they will assume you will stop (or can be intimidated into stopping). They will not stop just because you are on a pedestrian crossing.
Instead, act as if you have not seen the oncoming vehicle. If the driver thinks you haven't seen him, he will have to stop.
Stand up for your rights as a pedestrian and do not be intimidated!

It is different in other countries, Italy is an exception.

Just viewed a Rick Steves DVD where he discussed crossing the streets in Naples. He suggested crossing "in the shadow (i.e. just behind)" of a local. Looked harrowing nonetheless. We'll be in Rome in May. Enjoy!

Advice from Dimitri, my RS BOE guide....keep up the same pace. Don't go real slow but also don't hurry and don't run. And DON'T change your pace in the middle of the street. I noticed he walked the same pace whether crossing the street or walking down the sidewalk with the group. The motor scooters in particular will expect you to go the same pace and you are more likely to get hit if you speed up. I also try to shadow someone who looks like a confidant local.

We would just wait til some locals started crossing and join them...remembering our first visit to Rome following a well-dressed lady across by Vittorio Emanuele monument - and her lovely high heeled shoe came off halfway across!! I think it got caught in a cobble.

Our experience is to pick your spot - small break in traffic and go. Walk firmly and quickly but don't try to dodge the cars by stopping and starting. Then you are unpredictable. I don't think the Italians are particularly interested in hitting you because things get mess when they do. If walking quickly, predictable speed, straight line, they will do behind you. But if you suddenly stop in the middle of the street that is a problem because they don't know what you are going to do. Vespas will cut your close always behind so keep walking, don't stop. If Catholic, when you get to the curb, saying a blessing. Over the years we have spent about a month in Rome with no injuries. It becomes second nature.

I don't really remember this being a challenge in Rome (although several visits to Cairo probably influence my impression of how bad is bad). If I'm having problems, I wait until there are a few nontourists and cross with them (were it not for this approach, I would probably still be standing on a corner in Tahrir Square in Cairo).

When possible, ducking into a subway station and coming out using the exit on the other side of the street also works.

that's so strange that you say don't look at the driver, cuz that's all I did when I lived there, if I knew there was enough space that they can stop, just walk in the street looking in their direction making sure they saw you....

it was hilarious though when my friends who were living in Granada came to Rome and I stepped into the street, they flipped OUT....

mainly make sure there is enough space for them to stop before you walk....

Wait for a group of nuns in habits and cross with them, Italians are very superstitious.

My wife and I were nervous about Rome after all the warnings. It turned out to be our favorite place once we experienced it for ourselves.

Remember you are in Rome for the local culture and the experience of living like a local. Crossing the street is part of the culture.

I'm enthusiastically fine with experiencing culture. I'm also enthusiastic about self preservation. Thanks to all for the advise.

I'd be interested in stats on how many N. American tourists are injured as pedestrians in Rome. Crossing major roads there is more scary than fatal, but I'll bet there have been some injuries. I use the method already mentioned above: cross with a group of locals.

This changes the subject but IMHO the real dangerous places are where they drive on the right and we're looking left, or the bus lanes in Paris that go the opposite direction of the traffic on a one-way street, such as the Blvd. St. Michel. I almost got smashed in both places. Knowing where and how to look is an advantage.

Back to the subject: I don't blame you for being concerned, but if you latch onto a local until you get the hang of it as others have advised (especially Zoe and her nuns), you'll be the one giving others advice next time.

Most Italian cities and towns, including Rome, have large portions of their historical centers closed to traffic (except for buses/taxi/local residents), other streets and piazze are totally pedestrianized and not even buses/taxis can go. Those areas are know as ZTL (Zona Traffico Limitato=Limited Traffic Zones).

So I think that as a pedestrian you will have no problems dealing with motor vehicle traffic. Actually you might have a harder time crossing the streets in your own city, especially if you live in places like NYC where you can be run over by a taxi cab very easily.

The hard part will be dealing with all the pedestrians. In June Rome is packed with millions of tourists on foot, so watch out for tourists' stampedes, especially when the women hear rumors of Italian shoe sale in some store somewhere. They will step on you like you are a door mat.

Bets,
That's a good safety tip on Blvd St. Michel. In a few weeks, we'll be frequently walking on Blvd. St. Michel. Now I know what to watch out for.

Always at a pedestrian crossing I stopped traffic going one direction so my group could cross to the median. Then I did the same to traffic coming in the other direction so everyone could finish crossing. I did point at & look at the drivers in the cars.

No "near hits." The drivers were very polite.

I finished the stop on each side of the street with a "thank you" in sign language (fingers of R hand moving from chin out to palm up while smiling & saying "Gratzie").

Rome is not bad at all. Look all around and cross with others when you can. I know a gal who got hit by a motorcycle in Rome. She stayed six weeks in a Rome hospital with a broken leg. You just have to look all around.

Now Napoli is quite different, with motorcycles zipping next to you along narrow alleys and up on the sidewalks too. They're not supposed to, but they do. You need to perfect your 360 degree looksee there.

Rome is much more manageable. You will be OK.

Walk on the right hand side of a local and you'll be fine. If the intersection is one with a light, just follow the lights. You'll find you won't have to cross many unsignaled intersections or crosswalks.

Grazie Quirite! I'm counting on the continued graciousness and patience of Rome's citizens. My wife and I will do our best to play by your rules.

I didn't find Rome to be all that bad considering the size of the city. If you want a real challenge try walking around in Palermo.

My memory is a little spotty. I may have read it in RS, but I think it came to us from a Roman on our first trip in 1972: When crossing a street in Italy, align yourselves with (a) a beautiful woman, (b) a mother with a baby, or (c) a priest. Not so sure about (c) these days, but we have lived to tell the tale...knock wood.

Not really sure that hand gesture from Colette means Thank you in Italy. Kind of think it means something else?

I've always understood that gesture to mean something very, shall we say, direct. And not polite.

That's what I thought, too.

Colette isn't talking about an Italian hand gesture, but the American Sign Language gesture for "Thank You":
http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/t/thankyou.htm

That said, I would consider it very risky to try any hand gesture in Italy. I imagine not many Italians know American Sign Language.

If I needed to express thanks (for not hitting me haha) I would just make eye contact with a smile and a nod and a grazie....

but the thank you in ASL, isn't it more from the mouth?

ISL might be more appropriate.

As Rick says, walk in the "shadow" of a Roman. If you do get hit at least he will cushion your impact.

"..... not many Italians know American Sign Language." Not many Americans, Canadians, or Europeans know ASL either. Why would they be expected to know it?

Yes, Katherine, it looks more like blowing a kiss - flat hand with fingers on the lips (not the chin), then moving outward so palm is up.

Yes, from the lips ..... I would NEVER use the chin/palm up sign. A little indelicate, to say the least :)))

Maybe the drivers see the rude gesture along with a smile and figure that the person was confused and go on without starting a world incident.

I think the smile and smiling eyes overcome lots. Clearly she was trying to be polite.

Perhaps the gesture is only rude coming from a man? Simply confusing when a woman means it as thank you?

It's not a male-only gesture. Several sources show women making the gesture as well.