Ex-Man City boss Roberto Mancini says it’s safer to cycle in Manchester than in Italy

I live and work in Rome, and have done so for 24 years. I commute to work by bike in Rome, every day, and regularly cycle around Rome, in Lazio, Umbria and Abruzzo.

On a day to day basis, some Roman drivers honestly don't have a clue. I see many people run red lights (and often some time after they've gone red) every day. A huge amount of people drive with their phone in one hand or held to their ear. Bus drivers here regularly drive whilst talking on the phone (hands free, but driving a bus with 30+ people on it?). I've even photographed a policeman driving a coach whilst holding his phone to his ear,and one bus driver filling out his shift documents whilst driving. Almost every day I see people driving at night without their lights on - it's just a complete lack of awareness of the responsibility a car driver has whilst in control of a vehicle.

In the 24 years I've been cycling here I've broken my T4 vertabrae (policeman opening his car door without looking), left femur and wrist (taxi driver pulling out without looking, who then left the scene), and various other smaller breakages (fingers etc)

Outside of Rome, it does get better, but the statistics are still alarmingly high. Yes, some car drivers have a huge amount of respect, but just as many don't, and those are the ones you need to be careful of. If you go north to the Dolimites, its a completely diferent story. Very patient, and almost always will await until it is safe to overtake.

It's always struck me as such a paradox that country that has given birth to so many cycling legends gives so little regard to cyclists on the whole (and pedestrains for that matter).

I've ridden a lot in Abruzzo, and would say that most Italian drivers are more courteous and careful around cyclists than their British counterparts.  You still get dicks passing too close, but it is less often; and they will let you pass them on a mountain descent, which I am sure most meathead British drivers would try to actively block.

PINA has a rather different meaning in hungarian!

Roberto, Italy a country, Manchester a City.

I wouldn't ride around rome on a bike, the drivers are certifable, but as a whole the country is pretty bike friendly, though the further south you go the more mental the driving gets.  

"The police in England oblige cyclists to ride side by side to make drivers more aware of their presence and make them exercise more caution.”

Err... why did no-one tell me? Or, more importantly, motorists?

Cycling in Italy, I always found that drivers treated me with exactly the same amount of respect as they did any other road user. Admittedly this was virtually none, but it was refreshing to be regarded as an equal.

Though I find Mancini's description of cycling in England rather odd...

Really?