When I learned that my next Broadband Forum meeting will take place in Florence on March 2010 I surely planned an extension vacation with my wife, which turned out to be really enjoyable vacation.
During that vacation I rented a car for two days to enjoy Florence surrounding areas - that appeared to be a BIG mistake.
More than a year later I started getting traffic tickets; speed limit, restricted zone violation, none of which sounded like a familiar incident - especially given that I parked the car in the hotel parking lot which was out of the restricted zone areas and used the Car 99% of my time out of Florence. (one really does not need a car within Florence)
One can count the number of traffic tickets I had gotten during my 29 years as driver using the fingers of one hand - During those two days in Florence I seem to have "excelled" and had managed to get two ... for the time being.
The number of tourists, I am reading about and with whom I am talking, who are being charged for alleged traffic violations that mostly cannot be verify, looks, to say the least, STRANGE!! It calls for independent journalist or any other kind of investigation.
Are you the Italian official or journalist that can check this phenomena?
Traffic Tickets in Florence - Can someone check this phenomena?
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Hi
Not a phenomena, just an unpleasant fact of driving in Florence. Apparently they have raked in millions from unsuspecting tourists. My neighbour was pinged for a couple of hundred euro. Check this thread out for more info - http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/traffic-tickets-in-italy.cfm.
If you can prove that you needed to drive through restricted zones to get to your hotel you may have a chance of having the fine rescinded.
"Apparently they have raked in millions from unsuspecting tourists".
Undoubtedly true, but I am led to believe that most fines go to Italians. It is a hard lesson to be fined for something you were not aware of, when you had no intention of breaking the law, but what is the alternative? Rules and laws don't count if you're a tourist?
Many historic city centres in Italy have these controlled zones and IME they are always clearly signposted. Even if your hotel wasn't in the zone, it sounds as though you must have strayed into 'the zone' on your way in or out. It's a shame that all hotels aren't as helpful as the one we used in Bologna, which emailed strict instructions on the only approved route through town when I booked. It is a fact of driving in historic cities.
Hey Nit,
How many tickets did you get?
If it is more than 10, you might have reason to suspect fraud.
If it is only 3-5, you were in the wrong places. They have cameras that photograph your license plates.
If you don't pay the fines, the car rental agency will charge your credit card.
PS
This phenomeNON
These phenomenA
"Rules and laws don't count if you're a tourist?" I wish!
Italy, however, is a special case, with a bureaucracy and general confusion unlike any other in Western Europe. Traffic laws are just one symptom of this. The place has more ways to hit foreign drivers up for extra funds than any other country in the region. Several countries restrict traffic in inner cities, but Italy, and especially Florence, seems to be the most intent on enforcement, which is why I would not, did not, take a rental car there. Sometimes the traffic and street patterns force you into a path that crosses a short stretch of one of their restricted zones, and there is so much to watch for, it is easy to miss the sign for a congestion zone. They may collect a lot in fines but the law seems to do nothing to reduce traffic congestion in the city.
This has happened to everyone I know who has taken a car into Florence. So, yes, it appears to be quite common.
> Apparently they have raked in millions from unsuspecting tourists.
Yes - if you call Italians living in the suburbs of Florence "tourists".
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/traffic-ticket-in-mail11-months-later.cfm