Lucca Police tracks us down for traffic violation...14 months later
 

Last September while in Lucca, we briefly and inadvertently entered a "no fly zone" in our rental car. Exited the area immediately although we feared our infraction was captured by a video camera. Our friends (who had previously received three Italian traffic tickets through a collection agency) warned us that we would be fined. But after a year or so we thought we could relax.

No such luck: Just received an official letter from the Polizia di Lucca charging us 123.76 Euros for our violation.

This isn't really a heads up, just an FYI, because it would have been pretty darn hard to avoid. We were with our son and his friend who were studying in Florence at the time and we all understood the signs, but didn't notice them until too late.

On the bright side, other than the traffic incident, we enjoyed good fortune for the remainder of the trip (upgrades on flight, hotel AND car), fantastic drives, plus the best meals ever in the coolest Oltrarno neighborhood.

This is rotten luck but the best course is probably to pay up and forget about it.

Moving on, tell us about the "coolest oltrarno neighborhood," as it sounds great!

I can't agree Tarquin, that it is rotten luck the OP knew or was aware of the sign and although they exited the area there was still a violation. I just hope this is a lesson to others and the OP pays up as I'm sure they will.

I've often wondered what would happen if you went directly to the police station and explained the problem. It might not make an ounce of difference -- I once had an entire roomful of Italian police apologize profusely for being unable to rescind my parking ticket.

But since cameras routinely snap pictures of holders with permits from hotels to drive through ZTLs, and then don't issue fines, it strikes me that it might be possible to get a "retroactive" permission if you head directly to the polizia office.

if you traveled for 12 days and received roughly a $120 fine, that's a $10 per day "surcharge" for your momentary lapse, and I agree that the in the whole scheme of things, it was better to have been in Italy and gotten the charge to have been elsewhere having less fun.

For travelers to Lucca, there is a parking lot right near the train station, right OUTSIDE the walls, that has no ZTL risks.

We intend to pay the ticket, of course. I reported this mainly as an amusing anecdote - I wouldn't say we learned any lesson at all! (Nor will we ever turn ourselves in if this happens again, but that's an interesting suggestion.)

We weren't looking for parking when we erred - we were just blindly following our clueless GPS, which clearly wasn't familiar with the law. There was plenty of street parking, in addition to the lot that pizzocchieri mentioned (near the bike rentals?)

Our friends, however, DID have rotten luck - they had pay for three tickets they received in Chianti almost two years after their visit, plus a surcharge for the collection agency...almost $300 per ticket. And they had no idea that they had ever done anything wrong until they saw the photos.

--

Onto more pleasant memories of the Oltrano: We stayed for seven days at the Palazzo Magnoni Feroni, a few blocks away from where our son was living on the quaint Via Maffia. http://www.palazzomagnaniferoni.com/ Upgraded to an 1100 square foot suite (for the price of their smallest room) in a true palace in a non-touristy artsy neighborhood. Magical twinkly view from rooftop might be the best we've seen in Europe - sunsets were extraordinary. The owners also have vineyard and we received several complimentary bottles of wine.

Best restaurants in the 'hood: Trattoria Quattro Leone (sit outside) and Trattoria Pandomonio (sit in the garden room, meet Mama). Still dreaming about both of these meals (reservations required). Best local, affordable spots: Gusta pizza (we are pizza snobs,this is the real deal - fave of the college students), Gelateria la Carraia (arguably the best in town).

We also had great upgrade karma when it came to the flight (another story) and the car. For the price of the cheapest car we received a fabulous little B class Mercedes. One day trip was the previously mentioned lawless visit to Lucca/Pisa. Then the following day we accidentally happened upon a really fun wine festival in Panzano. Had incredible duck parpadelle that afternoon in Chianti, also bought some terrific wine that we're still craving - will try to find the name of those places.

And, because we were visiting our night owl son, we never got up before noon or 1pm, so lots of long romantic strolls at night and no jet lag...super relaxing seven days.

I can come back with more details about art, shopping and more food as soon as I finish my India trip report on the Asia board - started it six weeks ago and I think my readers are getting impatient!

Thanks for reminding me again why I don't want to rent a car and drive in Italy - at least anywhere near a city!

We got a notice from the rental car agency that we had a ticket coming from Bologna. But the Italians had a year from the date of notice to send us the actual ticket. And we never got it! Whew! We lucked out!

The point of these stories is to be aware the ZTLs exist, and that it is VERY easy to miss the signs and get a ticket. We are not complaining about it. Just want people to know about it.

As Andrew says, avoid driving into Italian cities! Besides, the train takes you right into the center of town, anyway, with no parking problems.

Thanks for the good info, crosscheck, I will save for our next trip to Florence. Strange that it is not one of my favourite places but I feel drawn to return regularly. Not sure what to call that syndrome!

Funny, another poster just responded to the part of my trip report where we missed a right turn for the Due Ponti (as I remember) and inadvertently went through an arch and smack into Siena proper. We KNEW we weren't supposed to be there...but kept circling around and around trying to figure out how to get out! This happened in early October. Am sure not resting on my laurels, but fully expect to get something at some point. I only hope that like some posters, some snafu with the police administration leads to no ticket after all. Even if you're aware that you're not supposed to drive certain places you can accidentally end up right there. Now am crossing fingers.....

Pretty much the same story with us, leslieq. Sounds as if you don't have to worry for another year or so. Will check out your report. BTW, although I like trains, I still prefer the flexibility (and the fun) of having a car in Europe.

First of all, we had to rent a car, because the place we stayed in, which was so kindly given to us for free, was in a remote little village way up a mountain called Benabbio. We had to drive 12 miles every day to get to Lucca.

We also got traffic violations while in Lucca and Parma. 2 in Lucca and 1 in Parma. Couldn't read the notice, as it was in Italian, so asked a friend. She said, and get this, that the 2 in Lucca were both for "driving in a lane that is reserved for residents only". Really? Not sure how we would have known there were specific lanes designated for residents only. The notice for Parma said we drove in a bus lane. That I understand. We are still waiting to receive the actual violations so we can pay them, but in the mean time I am trying to find out how much they will cost us. And, yes, the car rental company, Hertz in this instance, charged us almost 50 dollars for each of the violations that they had to give the police our information to. So, I've paid 150 dollars so far, and yet to receive the actual tickets.. Fun Fun. But, as everyone has said, 3 weeks in Italy, was well worth it.

Does anyone know how I can find out how much these tickets are going to cost us?

And one other issue that maybe someone can answer? I bought a purse in Lucca, filled out and sent in my tax refund information, and still have not received my refund. Our trip was in May, so almost 6 months and no refund. I can not figure out who to contact about this. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me with this.
Barb

I am guessing in Lucca it wasn't a residents LANE but a residents only street, or a ZTL.

Lots of Italian towns and cities have them.

Here is some info
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel-....In.Italy.html

Google little, you find Lucca fine was over 100EU back in 2012, https://community.ricksteves.com/tra...one-year-later and Parma fine is about 81EU http://uncomunea5stelle-parma.blogau...se/?refresh_ce.

So I hope you saved enough money to have stay for free at the cost of car rental + gas + parking + ztl admin charge + ztl fines + travel time.

"Couldn't read the notice, as it was in Italian ..."

Remarkably strange since you were driving in Italy.

When driving you follow the local rules.
I got stopped by the police in USA because I didn't do as they do there at the stop sign.
Now I know. Now you know.

bblount, rather than revive a thread from 2012, I would have started a new thread.

Italian road signs, particularly the ZTL signs, rarely, if ever, offer English translation. If you don't speak or read Italian, and you plan on driving in Italy, it is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to study the road signs ahead of time and know what each one says. If you don't do this, you WILL suffer the consequences.

The Italian authorities have discovered the "cash cow" that tourists with cars provide. They will not be turning back the clocks or turning a blind eye anymore.

If you're going to rent a car in Italy these days, and you need to do so on a strict budget, you need to do your homework. I can assure all readers, the homework will keep you occupied for quite a few hours.

NYCFoodSnob - agree about new posting.

However, regarding "cash cow" this is not limited to tourists. ZTL works for locals too as do speed traps, the Tutor system on the autostrade as well as the latest system which monitors those without insurance (this really is necessary).

The days of flying down the A1 at 200kph+ are long gone.

<i><font color=#555555>"ZTL works for locals too as do speed traps"</font></i>

For the purpose of writing quickly on a U.S. board, I assume all "locals" know how to read the road signs.

Whether the "locals" care about speed traps, that's another discussion. I've spent many weeks driving in Italy this year, a few more weeks to come. I've seen no evidence that the aggressive driving behavior of males has changed. I clocked many drivers going 70+ kph in a 50 kph zone. On the A1, several were easily passing me at 160+ kph.

If someone was dispensing tickets, or if there was any fear of a ticket being dispensed, I didn't see the evidence.

Wow, didn't expect to get lectured from my comments and questions. Oh well... But it is the 3rd time we've been to Italy and driven a car, without any tickets. So, maybe we aren"t too stupid. lol

Shame on Lucca for extorting such obscenely high fines from naive tourists or ones who made an honest mistake and new it.

Why do we only hear this coming from Italian cities?