maitaitom

When did Orvieto, Florence and other Italian towns start handing out tickets for driving in Zona Traffico Limitato areas? I only ask because of our misadventures in 2005 and driving on the town square in Trevi. We also drove into Florence, went to our hotel and then drove to the rental car agency. Maybe we just had blind luck, because at the time I didn't know anything about these areas, although we tried to hit as few pedestrians as humanly possible.

cuteshoes

My mother and I stayed in Orvieto 2 years ago and last April she received 2 tickets...just 2 minutes apart for driving in a restricted zone. One going in and one coming back out. ours was over $700 because they doubled it when we didn't pay within the 30 days. I sent an email to the department in Orvieto who issued the ticket and they sent it back saying it had to be formal and in Italian and it was due thirty days from when the letter was sent. Well we received it 45 days after that date, so that wasn't an option. I sent an email to the bed and breakfast we stayed in and they sent the tickets to their attorney and they handled it all. It was eventually dismissed. I wouldn't recommend ignoring the ticket as you might have an issue if you ever go back trying to leave the country. Just like in the US...you can never really hide completely from a moving violation or parking ticket...they always come back to haunt you!!!

xyz123

This has been thoroughly covered in other threads (yes this one too is an old thread).....as I said over there it is obvious that while the original purpose of these zones was to protect historic landmarks, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Like my own home town, good old New York, NY, the municipal authorities quickly discover that jacking up these sometimes phony violatons is a good source of revenue.

What nobody on any of these threads has been able to answer is...

1. How many are actually paid (I bet relatively few)

2. What can they really do if you don't pay? After all, the ticket is not issued against a person by the camera but against a vehicle and there's really no proof of just who was driving.

Personally, it may have started out as a good thing but it has become clearly a scam. If it were me (and no I don't knowingly violate any traffic laws), and I could find out that there was really little they could do, I would simply tear it up or keep it as a souvenir.

spaarne

The icon of a round white sign with a red border has been a standard *do not enter* sign throughout Europe for decades. Why would someone drive in Europe without knowing the rules of the road? Suicide wish? Arrogance? Stupidity? All of the above? Act your age and know what you are doing before renting a car in a foreign country. Be happy that it is only a fine and not a pine box trip to the cemetery.

Sometimes the sign includes a silhouette of a truck, donkey cart, bicycle, or some other vehicle. Then the prohibition is specific for that type of vehicle.

Samurai_Kiwi

I can understand the need to protect the historical parts of the city and that is probably indeed one motivation for the fines, but they have also obviously become an important source of revenue for the city, much like speed camera tickets elsewhere for exceeding the posted speed limit by a few kmh.

I too would like to know the penalties for not paying the ticket, I'm sceptical whether they could detain you at the airport for non-payment of a fine of this nature. Similarly the 50 euros for the rental company to provide information to the authorities is a complete ripoff.

kwren

I will be driving from Montepulciano to Orvieto to return a rental car before boarding a train to Rome next summer. Is there any danger of running into the ZTL in Orvieto by accident? Will it be obvious where to go to avoid it and what signs should I look for to get to the rental agency and station?

ellenem

The rental car offices in Orvieto are not in the historical center on the hilltop where the ZTL restrictions usually are in effect.

I posted this link earlier in the thread. it features photos of the signs to watch for.

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/drivin...s_speeding.htm

ellenem

This link describes the ZTL in Orvieto. If you don't go up the hill to the city center youshould be fine.

http://www.orvietoonline.com/orvieto...o_orvieto.html

kwren

We won't go up the hill! Thanks

kybourbon

Which rental car company? Hertz is near the train station, but lacks parking. I think they have some type of arrangement across the street to park their cars at the gas station in the Y.

Do you plan to visit Orvieto at all?

kleeblatt

Italy is going broke. They need the money. Look at it as a donation.

kwren

ky - (if you were asking me) - I haven't booked the car yet as it's a long way off. I was going to start with Autoeurope. If you have other tips for me on rentals, I'd love to hear them.

The (very loose) plan is to check out of our Montepulciano hotel after breakfast, then go to Orvieto. We'll return the car and go check out Orvieto until it's time for our train. Maybe we'll just feel like continuing directly to Rome, but for now think we should at least take the funicular and bus into the historic part of town for a bit. I would have to see what can be done with the luggage - I doubt we'll feel like pulling it around. I haven't planned the train time yet, but we have to check into our apartment in Rome sometime around 6:00 pm.

karens

<<I too would like to know the penalties for not paying the ticket

I have done very simple research on this. I read that Italy has 2 years to collect this fine. (Two years from the date of violation? Or two years from the Notice? I don't know). After that period, no fine would be owed. (HOWEVER: I did also see something that said the time period is THREE years, so there is even some confusion on that).

The problem is what can happen to you within those two (or possibly three) years, and I haven't located a definitive answer to that. You could be hit with additional fines, you could have a visit from the police if you return to Italy - there are many possible scenerios.

There is an informal appeal process, and I think it would be wise to at least go through those steps once a notice is received.

But it would be interesting to hear from an Italian lawyer on this issue.

kybourbon

The funicular was down for maintenance when I was there last month. It was a regularly scheduled maintenance started in June which was supposed to take a couple of weeks and was taking months instead. It may be operational again by now. If the funicular isn't working you can take the bus. They were really checking tickets on this bus so make sure you have it and stamp it. You could always leave your car in the free lot behind the train station if you don't mind leaving your luggage in the car. Otherwise, you must arrange to leave your luggage at a hotel (info available in the ticket office of the train station).

As for AutoEurope rentals, you must select cities that have the same company for pick-up/drop-off. If you select a town that only has Hertz and try to select a return town that only has Europcar then AutoEurope will show no availability. This is true also if you try to select and return at specific locations such as a train station so you have to know which towns have specific companies when using AutoEurope. Where did you plan to pick up your car?

kwren

We're going to pick up in Lucca.