Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda
Username  

  New fredmiranda.com Mobile Site
  New Feature: SMS Notification alert
  New Feature: Buy & Sell Watchlist
  

FM Forums | Trip Location Advice & Meet-ups | Join Upload & Sell

  

Archive 2017 · Traffic ticket, Italy style

  
 
PatrickSweeney
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Traffic ticket, Italy style


OK, not to be a nudge, but pay attention to the signs if you drive overseas. I just got done sending a bundle of money back to Italy, to take care of a ticket. In the scheme of things, the price wasn't all that much (apparently, you can rack up hundreds of Euros of fines, easily) but the process was annoying.

If you find yourself in this predicament, here's the drill:

Parking tickets, you'll get a notice under the wiper. If that goes missing, they'll mail you a form telling you what you owe. The rental car company will rat you out, the municipality will get your address, no way around it.

By EU law, they have 360 days to notify you. Once you sign for it, you have 60 days to pay, or it doubles. The form is supposed to be in a language you understand, but mine came in Italian and German.

They want the money via bank transfer. OK, no checks and no credit cards, because of various hassles and a past tradition of skimming.

Your banker will have to suss out the various numbers for the transfer, and he/she will also need a physical address for the municipality, so save the envelope. No address,no transfer.

Oh, and by the time I had given up trying to call someone over there (no one answered the phone, and the city page was not in English) I had missed the "early pay discount" period. Rats, that was 30% I could have saved. Oh well, now I know. And so do you.

I've driven there now twice, for a month-and-a-half, and there's only the one ticket. A cheap education. Oh, and the offense? Driving into a pedestrian-only zone. Oops.



Dec 13, 2017 at 04:40 PM
gdanmitchell
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Traffic ticket, Italy style


I don’t suppose it happened in Florence?;-)


Dec 14, 2017 at 01:21 AM
PatrickSweeney
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Traffic ticket, Italy style


No, that would have incurred a whole lot more than 106 Euros in charges. It was the sunny little Adriatic town of Grado. I've heard horror stories of Florence, multiple tickets from different agents, in a few minutes, on a parked car, and the like.


Dec 14, 2017 at 01:21 PM
DonM2
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Traffic ticket, Italy style


I bet the Italian taxi drivers and chauffer services are loving this condition. Especially in Florence!

... DonM2



Dec 14, 2017 at 04:16 PM
DonM2
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Traffic ticket, Italy style


I bet the Italian taxi drivers and chauffer services are loving this condition. Especially in Florence!

... DonM2



Dec 14, 2017 at 04:19 PM
gdanmitchell
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Traffic ticket, Italy style


PatrickSweeney wrote:
No, that would have incurred a whole lot more than 106 Euros in charges. It was the sunny little Adriatic town of Grado. I've heard horror stories of Florence, multiple tickets from different agents, in a few minutes, on a parked car, and the like.


Ah, yes, of course!

The first time I ever drove in Italy was in Florence, starting at a rental car outlet right next to the line between the places that are OK to drive and those that net you a huge fine. It was a "special" moment, for sure. (No ticket, though!)

Aside from that, I love Florence. And other parts of Italy I've visited.

Dan

http://gallery.gdanmitchell.com/gallery/var/albums/HumanWorld/Cities/Europe/Italy/MenSidewalkFlorence20160828.jpg



Dec 14, 2017 at 06:18 PM
jdc562
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Traffic ticket, Italy style


PatrickSweeney wrote:
....Parking tickets, you'll get a notice under the wiper. If that goes missing, they'll mail you a form telling you what you owe. The rental car company will rat you out, the municipality will get your address, no way around it.....


I used to travel a lot and use rental cars. A number of times I received parking fines for vehicles I didn't rent. Hertz was the company most at fault for providing misinformation to the ticketing agencies. Be sure to keep your rental records. The contract will include the rental car make and model, color, lic plate number, and time you checked out and checked in. Also keep your boarding pass for the airline.

The parking ticket will also have the vehicle info and infraction date, time, and place.

Even though I could show Hertz, or other rental company, that the car info, or rental times, or locations didn't match the info on the ticket, they treated me like I was trying to scam them and refused to correct the information they gave the ticketing agency. So, my only recourse was to send copies of the car rental info to the ticketing agency and then call them to walk them through the info. With this evidence, and proof I was elsewhere, I never got a hassle from the ticketing agency--they cancelled the ticket. I even got sympathy saying the rental agencies do this all the time.



Dec 15, 2017 at 06:45 PM
gdanmitchell
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Traffic ticket, Italy style


^^^

I like that advice!



Dec 16, 2017 at 02:10 PM
fsiagian
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Traffic ticket, Italy style


One of the best places I have visited and I did drive in Italy for the whole 2 weeks. No ticket thankfully although I had to back the car and return because of the pedestrian only streets.


Dec 17, 2017 at 12:16 PM
Craig Gillette
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Traffic ticket, Italy style


I suppose with some familiarity with driving in Europe, getting up to speed with the different customs and signs, etc., it might be possible. But we spent a fair amount of time in Florence visiting my daughter and can't imagine trying to deal with the historic area and a car. The complexities of when and where you can park and/or drive, is pretty daunting.



Dec 18, 2017 at 10:24 PM





FM Forums | Trip Location Advice & Meet-ups | Join Upload & Sell

    
 

You are not logged in. Login or Register

Username       Or Reset password



This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.