Italian Speeding Tickets

[lancebond]

i once had a speeding ticket in arizona (not italy i know.. but still) didn't pay the fine for a couple of years and got a letter from the police department, i then sent an envelope that was ripped open with a letter inside saying that i had enclosed a cheque...

never heard from them again, although i'm staying clear of arizona for a while!

 

[DITTRICH]

Most of the time, all this grief can be avoided with careful planning, a little research and obeying the speed limits. Driving on the continent is getting much more challenging as the zones and stickers multiply. Luckily for me it has all worked out so far and no fines anywhere (or bribes) and that includes Russia. I do admit to indvertently breaking the odd rule in Russia as the signage is so bad and have been stopped there. Luckily the difference between English and Russian langauges, alphabets and car related documents have proved to be too great for the average policeman to process them successfully.

 

[JOB-BLACK-RAT]

i once had a speeding ticket in arizona (not italy i know.. but still) didn't pay the fine for a couple of years and got a letter from the police department, i then sent an envelope that was ripped open with a letter inside saying that i had enclosed a cheque...

never heard from them again, although i'm staying clear of arizona for a while!

Howdy Son, guess you kinda thought we stopped looking you ya.

Ya' all come back now, ya hear!

 

[Colin_b]

I got a parking ticket from Spain - quite wrongly - and they sent me a nice letter demanding money.

I replied with an equally nice letter of about 5 pages, advising them of their error, with a few random cut and pastes from the EU human rights act plus a random picture of a German registered Vauxhall Meriva.

Translated from English to Polish to French to Spanish via babelfish rendered it unintelligble, but co-operative.

They gave up.

 

[Beetnik]

Got one in Pisa about 5 years ago. The fine went up the longer I didn't pay. I just ignored it and they've gone away.

 

[jepho]

Ade B said:

The alternative is to be more observant when driving abroad.

Hmm, I dont agree with that because the issue for me is the lateness of the notice, and the apparant possibility of recieving multiple fines from cameras along the same piece of road within minutes of each other.

My emphasis highlights the base issue. Lateness of paperwork should have no effect on your driving, especially how observant you are. Besides which, you could not have known that your unwitting infractions would generate the paperwork late (or at all) so it does not free you from the constraint of looking where you are going and planning for your trip. If you don't want the penalties then don't infringe the laws.

Reverse the situation and ask yourself what you think should happen if drivers from outside the UK had the freedom to drive how they wanted to on our roads. What would you do with them?

 

[DITTRICH]

How to deal with traffic fines received while driving in Italy

Probably the best source of up to date information on italian fines.
There is alot of reading to be done but it is very enlightening.

 

[ShinyF1]

My brother has been getting nabbed in the ZTL in Florence for the last 5 years and ignores the fine letters when he gets them in the UK. He's still in and out of Italy a lot and no advese repercussions so far

 

[snoop51]

Ade B said:


Reverse the situation and ask yourself what you think should happen if drivers from outside the UK had the freedom to drive how they wanted to on our roads. What would you do with them?

Whilst I agree with you Jepho most foreign drivers in UK already drive with impunity on our roads anyway?

Frequently Asked Questions | Honest John

So consequently sod it "What's good for the Goose is good for the Gander"

 

[jepho]

Whilst I agree with you Jepho most foreign drivers in UK already drive with impunity on our roads anyway?

Frequently Asked Questions | Honest John

So consequently sod it "What's good for the Goose is good for the Gander"

Sadly, true. The loss of traffic officers from our roads, in exchange for cameras and revenue, does little to deal with the miscreants who are driving in a manner which appears to be oblivious to the safety of other road users. The fundamental problem with safety cameras is that all of the other driving behaviours which are dangerous are never seen or dealt with unless a police patrol happens to be nearby.

Edit: I don't believe that the sauce for the goose argument applies... on the basis that two wrongs don't make a right.

 

[crockers]

Ade B said:





Reverse the situation and ask yourself what you think should happen if drivers from outside the UK had the freedom to drive how they wanted to on our roads. What would you do with them?

I wrote to our local "camera partnership", or what ever they are called, requesting how many foreign cars had been "recorded" as speeding and how many had been fined.

The reply was over 4,000 in a 12 month figure had been recorded - fines ZERO. So it obviously cuts both ways.

I do feel that in this country with camera at every port all cars leaving should be recorded and any outstanding fines should be collected before they are allowed to leave. Or take the cars.

 

[martin_a]

I do feel that in this country with camera at every port all cars leaving should be recorded and any outstanding fines should be collected before they are allowed to leave. Or take the cars.

Yep. Isle of Mann won't let you get on the ferry if you have unpaid fines.

Time we did the Euro thing of taking overseas drivers straight to the cash point.

m.

 

[snoop51]

I wrote to our local "camera partnership", or what ever they are called, requesting how many foreign cars had been "recorded" as speeding and how many had been fined.

The reply was over 4,000 in a 12 month figure had been recorded - fines ZERO. So it obviously cuts both ways.

Typical

Yep. Isle of Mann won't let you get on the ferry if you have unpaid fines.

Time we did the Euro thing of taking overseas drivers straight to the cash point.

m.

Sounds like a great idea to me.

 

[burcu]

Unexpected tickets in italy

Hi;
i just have a very similar problem.
We ( from Turkey/İstanbul) hired 2 cars from Europcar in Genoa this August and faced a suprise in our credit card statements this month; 3 different charges of 48,40€ which we checked from the local office and learned that these are the charges for giving the personal information to the italian goverment.
And now we are expecting the tickets
we canceled our credit cards in the first panic phase but now we are concerned that if they cannot charge from the credit card what will happen??
Will there be a problem in entering the country again if we ignore the tickets?
And also we dont know what the tickets are for.
Who will contact with us and do we have the right to refuse or ask for evidence.
HELP :/

 

[GP801]

If they send the tickets direct to you then they are unlikely to chase it up if you ignore them. They may choose to send the tickets to Europcar in which case Europcar will undoubtedly chase you. Any idea what they are for? The autovelox (italian version of speed camera) tend to be anonymous grey boxes and quite hard to spot. The other common issue that traps visitors is entering a ZTL or zona traffico limitato, usually found in the centre of big or historic city centres, where you need a permit to drive in the centre. These are often hard to spot but are policed by cameras and electronic sensors. I have in the past strayed into these unintentionally but having a UK registered car never heard anything.

 

[clegsr]

In my case they sent me various letters which included a log on to an internet site to view a picture of the car.

However, the picture did not show the driver or which street or where it was.

Most comments I have seen have suggested that you may ignore these letters if you wish and they will not be able to enforce them.

I dont believe it will cause problems if you go back to Italy but if you have stopped the credit card then Europcar may possibly think you have an outstanding debt But only with them for the outstanding fees).

I dont think Europcar will charge you or chase you for the fines (other than the "fee" they charge for supplying the police with your info).

The tickets may be for speeding, or they may be for entering ZTL's (or they may be a mixture of both).

 

[burcu]

I dont know if we are dealing with Europcar or the Police.We havent received any letters or tickets yet, just that europcar fee.But if that is a fee for giving our info to the police, then the police will ben intouch from now on?
Do you have any idea what happens for non-european people?Because we go for passaport check-in when we enter Europe and if they put a notice that we havent paid a ticket in their country under our names, then this may cause a problem?
Or if cannot reach us does the police go to Europcar and say, ''i dont care, this plate in signed under your company name and you are responsible for paying this ticket''

So many qouestions i have, but this is the first time i face such a problem and dont know what to do, dont want to pay either

 

[finisterre]

Perhaps we should take a £1000 off visitors credit cards and return it if they have failed to speed while in the UK? I see no reason why the continentals shouldn't do the same.

It might also assist the home office in their counting in and counting out, they do seem to be very poor at knowing who is in the country.

(I also feel 'necklacing' traffic cameras is forgiveable but that is a different issue)

 

[Wilsonuk]

What about the hire company? They have a duty of care to advise you of the pit falls of driving in the local area they are hiring the car in - if not a legal one then certainly a commercial / customer care based responsibility.

 

[Palfrem]

How dare Johnny Foreigner attempt to impede the - and some may say God given - right of Her Majesty's subjects to do what the hell they like on the roads in Europe.

It's bad enough they expect us to drive on the wrong side of the road let alone be aware of every piffling village and their obscure "congestion charge" rules. It's a deliberate scam to enrich the local despot (Mayor) by fleecing the beleaguered British tourist. Usually a decent sort of chap who is kind enough to leave his beloved Blighty on missionary duties for a week or so and spend some of his hard earned Euros in their bankrupt states. Build wider roads and more car parks for God's sake. There must have been an EU "grant" you could have applied for in the good times. I'm sure the Mayor's brother would have built them for a good price.

I wonder how many such fines were issued to Brits between 1939 -1945 ?