Commuters who listen to the best hits of the 80s and 90s on the car radio. Dad taxis that cart their children to school so that they don’t have to weave their way on foot through the dangerous traffic that the fetching parents cause in the first place. Or families – the parents stubbornly cheerful, the offspring whining in annoyance – who sneak across the clogged Brenner of the Adriatic and towards their vacation: driving a car can be terribly grueling.
But sometimes it’s also quite exciting. Life-threateningly exciting, even. Jim Jarmusch celebrated this in a bluntly vivid and at times incredibly funny way in his fantastic episodic film “Night on Earth”. Five cities, five nightly taxi rides: In Rome, Roberto Benigni is behind the wheel, despite the darkness with sunglasses on his eyes, driving at breakneck speed through the streets of the Eternal City. When an older priest gets in, the chauffeur finally has someone to listen to his excitement, which erupts like a torrent of water. First he flirts with prostituting transsexuals on the side of the road, then he confesses his sexual excesses to the priest – with pumpkins, sheep and his sister-in-law. All this is too much confession for the heart of the pious old man.
Not exactly life, but at least people lose their composure because of an exciting car trip, even people who haven’t been driving at all. But only your partner. And in the company of passengers who have absolutely no business being in this car. At least that’s how those who stay at home often see it.
Until now, it was also common practice in Italy for anyone who was caught speeding to receive a photo as evidence along with the fine notice. These photos sometimes showed people whose presence in the vehicle in question, well, required explanation. One or two marriages have failed because of a speed trap.
The Italian government believes that this really doesn’t have to be the case. A discreet meeting with the mafioso next door, a joyride with the affair, what’s in it? Life is hard enough, you don’t need to make it more complicated. And so from now on no more photos of evidence will be sent, not even to foreign traffic offenders. Only those who file an objection risk a personal Waterloo if the fine authority then puts their cards on the table or puts a photograph in an envelope.
That is probably the actual purpose of this measure. It is sold by the Italian government as a means of protecting privacy. In reality, however, it is intended to improve payment practices and relieve bureaucracy by simplifying procedures. Because those who drive too fast in the exuberance of their hormone release see their fine as a hush money, pay willingly and are already looking forward to the next business trip, where private pleasure will not be neglected thanks to the desired accompaniment. Questa è la dolce vita!
Stefan Fischer prefers trains for various reasons.
(Photo: Bernd Schifferdecker (illustration))