Italian drivers start to stick to their traffic rules

Until a few weeks ago, crossing Italy's chaotic streets was an often-treacherous undertaking, and its traffic circles recalled a roller derby.

Then the impossible happened. Drivers suddenly started obeying traffic signals, allowing the right of way and even buckling up as a suspicious semblance of order befell Italy's byways and highways.

New and stringent laws that make it easier to revoke licenses have motorists looking over their shoulders, fearful of the traffic officer and the dreaded point system.

In a national system like those in many parts of the US, every driver's license is allotted points -- 20 in this case. Each infraction results in a subtraction. When the points disappear, so does the license.

The crackdown has its origins in Italy's increasing accidents and road deaths. Italians have become less willing to dismiss automobile anarchy as a national characteristic, and the government got fed up.

"Italians like to go fast," explained Franco Lucchesi, the president of the Italian Automobile Club, which was born as a racing club. "There is a bravura here that results from having to move around in very difficult traffic. But elementary traffic laws were rarely observed."

That is now changing, as advocates for the point system are quick to note.

The government is confident that the law is saving lives nationwide.