Overview :
Let’s say you would like to have a driving license in Italy like B2[the most common one], you have to clear the Theory exam and then the practical exam. You can find more information regarding the premise of it from the article: European driving license Italy The only update regarding the theory exam with respect to it is, as of now the number of questions in the quiz is reduced to 30 instead of 40 and you need to answer at least 27 questions correctly in order to pass the exam. Foglio rosa is valid for 1 year instead of 6 months from the date of clearing the theory exam and increased the number of attempts to clear the practical exam to 3.
As you already have an idea of this with our previous article, let’s dive deep into the theory section in this post which is the first step of the process and the most important one. Consider this as a reference guide in clearing the exam. I will explain everything in English so that if you have even a basic level of understanding of Italian you should be able to grasp the quiz even in Italian and pass the exam. I would also like to mention that this would be a series of posts related to the theory part of the driving exam, so please follow everything to get the most out of the course.
1. Glossary – The main terms
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
| Conducente | Driver |
| Privi di motore | Without motor |
| Patente | Driving License |
| Passaggio a livello | Rail crossing |
| Sterzo / Volante | Steering |
| Marcia | Gear |
| Retro marcia | Reverse Gear |
| Acceleratore | accelerator |
| Freni | Brakes |
| Frizione | Clutch |
| Specchi | Mirrors |
| Pneumatici | Tyres |
| Spie | Indicators |
| Catadiottri | Reflectors |
| Servosterzo | Power steering |
| Servofreno | Power brakes |
| Classcon | Horn |
| Tergicristalli | Wipers |
| freccia / frecce | Arrow(s) |
| Striscia / Strisce | lines / strips |
| Marciapiede | Footpath |
| Dosso | Speed breaker |
| Rotatoria | Roundabout |
| Attraversamento | Road Crossing |
| Zebratura | Zebra design |
| incrocio | Intersection |
| pericolo | danger |
| precedenza | precedence |
| divieto | prohibited |
| obbligo | obligation |
| fermata | To stop the vehicle for a small period |
| sosta | To stop the vehicle for a longer duration like parking |
| Circolazione | Circulation, Movement |
| segnalazioni acustiche | Signals related to Sound -like horn |
| [Traffico] senso unico | One way [Traffic] |
| [Traffico] Dopio senso | Two way [Traffice] |
| Attraversamento | Crossing |
| Primo/pronto soccorso | First aid |
| Cantiere stradali | Worksite, Road construction site |
| Semaforo | Traffic lights |
| Anteriore | Frontside |
| Posteriore | Backside |
| Nebbia | fog |
| Neve | snow |
| Ghaccio | Ice |
| Pioggia | rain |
| Debole | weak / light |
| Cinture di sicurezza | Seat belt |
| Casco | helmet |
| Manovre | Turns |
| Sorpasso | Overtake |
| Carico | Load |
| Ponte | Bridge |
| Rimorchio | Load attached to a vehicle |
| Assicurazione RCA [Responsabile Civile Auto] | RCA insurance |
| ferito della strada | Wounded person[Roadside] |
| Ustioni | Burns |
| Fratture | fractures |
| Corpo estraneo in un occhio | Foreign body enters in an eye |
| Trauma della gabbia toracica | Rib cage trauma[When steering hits chest during incident] |
| Trauma cranico | Head trauma |
| Ammortizzatori | Shock absorbers |
| Molla | Spring |
| Battistrada | Road like designs on the Tyres |
| Inquinamento | Pollution |
| Catena | Chain (like Cyle chain) |
| Discesa | Going down [Like : on a ramp] -Descending |
| Salita | Going up [like: on a ramp ] – Ascending |
| Targhe | Liscense plates |
| Idoneità alla guida | fit[Suitable] to drive |
| Galleria | Tunnel |
| Animali domestici vaganti | Domestic animals like cows |
| Animali selvatici vaganti | Wild Animals – like deers |
| Animali da soma | Animal group like horses |
| route / gomme | wheels |
| avaria / guasto | broken down |
| Merci | goods |
| munito | equipped |
| risarcimento | compensation/reimbursement |
| strada scivolare | slippery road |
| strada pianeggiate | flat road |
| brividi | shiver / chills |
| luce abbaglianti | high beam lights |
| luca anabbaglianti | low beam lights |
| pioggia testa | head rest |
Chapter 1: Veicioli. Strade [Vehicles and Roads]
Let us understand the classification of vehicles on the streets. This is very important to know and also serves as a basic thing to start the course since it would help us which signals to follow/omit based on type of the vehicle and also which category license to be taken to drive which vehicle. Let us begin with the classification of vehicles. This is really broad, so what we do is we would learn what is necessary for Patente B2 and also sufficient as it covers most of the vehicles.
1.1Classification of Vehicles:
The fundamental way in which the vehicles are classified is 2 types. They are :
- Vehicles without motor [Veicoli privi di motore]
- Vehicles with motor [Veicoli con motore]
Veicoli privi di motore :
This is very simple. The main rule is that vehicles should not be equipped with a motor and is basically 3 types:
- Veicoli a braccia [cart pulled by a person] or Veicolo a trazione Animale[Vehicle pulled by an animal like horse]
- Bicicletta [Bicycle] or Velocipede [2 wheels or with 3 wheels]
- Quadriciclo a pedale [4 wheels cycle with a pedal] also called Velocipede
Note: There exists also electric bicycles that come under this category. The maximum potential limit must be <= 0,25 kW. But this is not much asked in the quiz
Veicoli con motore :
This category is further subdivided into 2 subcategories as below:
- Vehicles up to 4 wheels [2 or 3 wheels mostly | or 4 wheels very light vehicles
- Vehicles with minimum 4 wheels or more
Vehicles up to 4 wheels :
These are further divided into 2 categories :
- Ciclomotori [Motorcycles]
- Motoveicoli [Motorvehicles]
Ciclomotori :
A vehicle that is considered as Ciclomotori if it has a thermic motor and follows the below 2 factors :
- The cylinder of the motor has a volume that does not exceed 50cm3 [<= 50cm3]
- It has a maximum velocity of 45 kmph
The most common vehicles that come under this category are Ciclomotore a due route[2 wheel scooty], Ciclomotore a Tre route [3-wheeler], quadriciclo leggero [light 4-wheeler looks like a very light potential mini car] and a maximum potential of 6 kW [Special case]
Motoveicoli :
A vehicle is considered a Motoveicoli which follows the below 2 factors :
- The cylinder of the motor exceeds greater than 50cm3 [> 50cm3] [No maximum defined]
- It has a maximum velocity of greater than 45 kmph [> 45kmph] [No max defined]
The most common vehicles in this category are Motociclo [like Race bike] – 2 wheels or 3 wheels[with and without a sidecar], quadriciclo non leggero [Non-light 4 wheeler like a 4 wheel dirt bike with the potential of <= 15 kW (Special case)]
Vehicles with minimum of 4 wheels or more :
This is the most important topic of the chapter :
Autoveicoli
The autoveicoli are categorized into 2 types based on 2 factors :
- Autoveicoli [To transport persons]
- Autoveicole [To transport Goods]
Autoveicoli [To transport persons]
The autoveicoli that transport persons are then categorized into 3 Types :
- Autovetture
- Autobus
- Auto caravan
Autovetture :
The usual cars which we see on the roads come under this category. The factors for a vehicle to be called an autovetture is the maximum number of people that can accommodate in an autovetture is 9 including the driver. It can also train a rimorchio [trolley load], in case of a lighter one up to 750 kg or a heavier one up to 3500 kg.
Autobus :
This is if an autoveicoli has more than 9 places similar to a public bus or a mini/school bus it is known as Autobus.
Auto Caravan :
It is also called a camper. It is like a mini house on wheels. The number of persons that are allowed in an auto caravan is up to 7
Note: Upto now whatever we dealt are regarding vehicles that transport people. In the next section, we talk about vehicles that transport also goods.
Autoveicoli Complessi :
The autoveicoli complessi consists of 2 parts, one regarding the autoveicolo and the other regarding remorchio /semi rimorchio :
These autoveicoli complessi are of 3 types :
- Autotreni – Autovetture/Autocarri/Autobus + a rimorchio
- Autoarticolati – Trattore stradale + a semirimorchio
- Autosnodati – This is like a long bus with a flexible pressure band
Other Autoveicoli :
- Le macchine agricole – Machines used in agricultural fields like tractors
- Le macchine operatrici – Machines used for construction purposes such as Macchina operatrice a route(Max speed 40 kmph), macchina operatrice a cingoli[tracks] (Max speed 15 kmph), Sgombraneve[Spartineve](used to remove snow from roads) (Max speed 40 kmph)
1.2 Strade e definizioni stradali [street definitions]
1.2.a – Strada
Basically, the above picture is very important and it almost explains everything that I am about to say in this chapter in a simple frame. So please get it photographed in your mind and make you do not forget it, ever.
Strada
Strada is kind of a superset of all the roads. It is defined as the area that is used by people, vehicles and animals. Stada could be composed of :
- Carreggiata
- Banchina
- Corsia
- Intersezioni (junction)
- Passaggio a livello
- Isola di traffico
- Zona traffico limitato
- Area pedonale
- Marciapiede
- Salvagente
- Attraversamento pedonale
- Attraversamento ciclabile
- Passo carrabile
- Sedee tranvaria
- Pista ciclabile
- Zona preselezione e di attesamento
Let’s dive into know each of them :
Carreggiata: This is a subpart of Strada that can possibly allow one-way or two-way traffic. This is mainly used for the movement of vehicles(two-wheeler or 4 wheeler) and also may contain attraversamento pedonale to allow people to cross the road.
Banchina: This is a sub-part of Strada but placed outside of carreggiata and in fact is separated from carreggiata by means of a continuous white strip(line). Sosta is generally prohibited in Banchina except exclusively specified.
Corsia: It is a sub-part of carreggiata separated by a white strip that can be continuous or discontinuous and all the vehicle need to be driven in a single line. Driving parallel is prohibited within a corsia. It could be of 3 types:
- Corsia di marcia [Corsia in a general way]
- Corsia riservata [Corsia reserved for particular kinds of vehicles like taxis, buses, etc]
- Corsia specializzata [Corsia for a specialized purpose like for overtaking, emergency, or specialized corsia for to enter and exit highways]
Continuous strip means vehicles cannot change from one corsia to its adjacent corsia and discontinuous strip means the vehicles can change from one corsia to its adjacent one.
Intersezione:
Mainly when two or more roads join is known as an intersection. it is of 2 types:
- Intersezione a raso: Intersection of roads at the same levels(heights) guided by traffic signals
- Intersezione a livelli sfalsati: Intersection of roads at different levels. Here the intersection is not guided by traffic signals.
Passaggio a livello: Passagio a livello is a junction with one or more roads along with a railway crossing. It is also possible to see barriers or semi-barriers or red lights, symbols of croci di S.Andrea around the area.
Isola di traffico: L’sola di traffico is a part of Strada with continuous zebra strips for canalizing traffic. It is prohibited to drive or perform la fermata, la sosta, or reverse gear on isole di traffico.
Zona traffico limitato: It is an area limited by a specific signal at the start of the road in which the particular road can be accessed by only certain authorized vehicles or a particular category of vehicles at certain hours(Work days or on holidays)
Area pedonale: It is an area specifically for the transit of people on foot or bicycles or differently-abled persons. Not for the transit of vehicles, except for vehicles in emergency situations.
Marciapiede: It is an area part of Strada but outside of Carregiata used for the transit of people on foot. Vehicles are not allowed to do a sosta unless there are specific horizontal road signals depicting parking spaces.
Salvagente: It is an area meant for people to get inside or exit a tram, especially when the tram lines are placed at the center of the Strada mainly in the view of the security of the people. Sometimes a luminous yellow light is placed along the area.
Attraversamento pedonale: It is used for people to cross the roads safely and is part of the carreggiata. Vehicles have to give precedence to the people crossing the road in this area.
Attraversamento ciclabile: This area is used intended for cycles to cross the road and so the cyclists have precedence over other vehicles in this area.
Passo carrabile: These are like the spaces uses to access private spaces like garages when they are attached to public roads at their entrance. This permission needs to be attained from the private space owner from the comune and he will have this signal along with his authorization number in front of his private space. In the correspondence of passo carrabile sosta is always prohibited but fermata is allowed.
Sede tranvaria: This is space for the transit of trams. It could be placed both, outside(propria) and also within(promissata) the carreggiata.
Pista ciclabile: This area is exclusively reserved for the transit of cycles.
Zona preselezione e di attesamento: It is a part of carregiata with specific signals to change the corisia or not. generally, you will find first find the discontinuous lines where you can change the corsia and the continuous lines after which the corsia cannot be changed. Sometimes there are horizontal arrows specified to suggest what directions could be taken.
1.3 Types of Roads(Strada):
There are mainly 4 types of roads. It is mainly important to know the maximum speed that is allowed on those roads. They are shown in the table below :
| Strade | General limit | In case of rain (- 20 kmph) | While training a rimorchio | Neo patentati |
| Autostrada | 130 (In some special cases 150) | 110 | 80 | 100 |
| Extraurbane principale | 110 | 90 | 70 | 90 |
| Extraurbane secondarie | 90 | 70 | 70 | 90 |
| Centro urbano o Urbano | 50 | 30 | 50 | 50 |
Note: The road symbols for autostrada are shown on a green background and that of the Strada extraurbane principal are shown on dark blue background.