I used to look after Italy as a region for a newspaper I worked for many years ago.... The local MD, Mauro, was a direct report and a very nice chap... we would regularly drive in his Alfa from Rome to Milan and this was always an utter nightmare.
He would drive around one inch from the bumper of the car in front - when I used to occasionally remark that we'd all be killed if something went wrong, he would say...
"But Neil, what you don't understand is that the Italian driver has faster reactions - it wouldn't happen".
