Author Topic: Italy (Florence) Driving Fines  (Read 162 times)

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flash2005

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Italy (Florence) Driving Fines
« on: November 22, 2024, 07:37:29 pm »
The driver of the vehicle, recently received multiple driving fines (driving in restricted area - ZTL) for a rented car in Italy (Florence).  The car was electric so ZTL restrictions were not applicable, was the instruction from the rental company.  The letters are from "comune di firenze polizia municipale".  It was tempting to pay the fines at the discounted rate, but unfortunately the letter was received 5 months after the actual event, so the total amount is too big now unfortunately.  Has anybody received this before ? What is the advise from the forum members ?  Should the appeal be filed as the fine is not valid (given electric vehicles are exempt from ZTL).

<br> The below 4 letters were received today.<br>




<br>This below page is at the back of each of the above 4 letters, making the total fine - 718.4 euros.<br>
« Last Edit: November 22, 2024, 08:27:05 pm by flash2005 »

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andy_foster

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Re: Italy (Florence) Driving Fines
« Reply #1 on: November 22, 2024, 07:48:07 pm »
Unless the admins added a forum for foreign traffic fines without me noticing, it would appear to come under the category of "does not belong anywhere else"
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flash2005

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Re: Italy (Florence) Driving Fines
« Reply #2 on: November 22, 2024, 09:07:40 pm »
I have added the details in the original post. There is on photographic evidence on their portal

roythebus

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Re: Italy (Florence) Driving Fines
« Reply #3 on: November 22, 2024, 11:25:32 pm »
The usual reply to foreign traffic violations is there's not much they can do about it unless the vehicle owner is liable. In which case they will pay the fine and maybe add it to your account and collect payment from your card account.

If it's driver liability then there's very little they can do about it except keep sending you threatening letters. Don't reply and don't worry is my advice. UK debt collectors may latch on to the case but there' nothing they can do about it as the debt isn't registered in the UK.
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flash2005

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Re: Italy (Florence) Driving Fines
« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2024, 12:07:01 pm »
The driver's main concern is if they can prosecute him further during his travel to Italy.

Southpaw82

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Re: Italy (Florence) Driving Fines
« Reply #5 on: November 23, 2024, 01:28:22 pm »
The driver's main concern is if they can prosecute him further during his travel to Italy.

“The driver” should probably post here themself. AFAIK, nobody here is an expert in Italian law.

cp8759

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Re: Italy (Florence) Driving Fines
« Reply #6 on: November 27, 2024, 10:35:58 pm »
@flash2005 it is well established that the Italian authorities have zero ability to enforce these outside of the EU, and to be honest even before we left the chances of them enforcing via the UK courts was close to zero because under the EU cross-border scheme for the enforcement of fines, the enforcing court gets to keep the money.

So, unless you plan on moving to Italy, you can throw the penalty in the bin. You might get a couple of letters from toothless debt collectors who who you might cough up, but that would be the end of the matter. The only reason they issue any correspondence at all is because they know that for every 100 letters they send, they only need 1 person to pay to cover their costs. If 20% actually cough up, they make an absolute fortune (at least compared to the 0% collection rate they'd get if they didn't even try).
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roythebus

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Re: Italy (Florence) Driving Fines
« Reply #7 on: November 28, 2024, 02:47:13 am »
Just beware of swarthy Italian gentlemen with violin cases...
Bus driving since 1973. My advice, if you have a PSV licence, destroy it when you get to 65 or you'll be forever in demand.