Italian Police Traffic Management Violations

You have been identified by the Italian Municipal Police as the person responsible for the vehicle involved at the time of the traffic offence. You will already have received prior communication directly from the Italian police and/or their agents. In some cases, your personal data will have been provided to the Italian Municipal Police by a vehicle rental company or leasing agency.

Typically, these offences relate to traffic management violations like speeding, parking in and/or entering a prohibited zone.

The Italian Municipal Police has full supporting evidence for their claim. A traffic offence is immediately enforceable. Non-payment will result in Court action being commenced in the appropriate jurisdiction and this will attract additional costs, mainly Court fees and legal costs.

Unfortunately, not being aware of the traffic management laws in Italy is not a valid objection. In the circumstances, we recommend that you pay the fine. If you still do not accept this, you should seek professional legal advice.

Under Italian law (specifically, Art. 204 of the Italian Highway Code), you are required to submit any queries regarding your liability for a fine within 60 days of receiving the notification from the Italian authorities. If you have done this but did not receive a response, please let us have copy correspondence as evidence and we will consider your claim.

As a result of the outbreak of the Covid pandemic there was a suspension and interruption of notification period between 23 February 2020 and 15 May 2020 meaning that the 360-day notification period is extended by an additional 83 days.

The Italian authorities have 360 days from the traffic violation date and the identification of the owner of the vehicle to notify foreign drivers that a fine is payable.

Note that in case of rental vehicles, the car rental company (owner of the vehicle) is initially contacted by the Police. They inform the Police of the contact details of the person in charge of the vehicle at the time of the offence. It is only when the Police receives the offending driver’s data from the car rental company that the 360 day period starts to run.

We are able to access copy notifications of the traffic offence sent to you by the Italian Municipal Police and/or their agents. For speeding or entering a restricted traffic zone fines, we can usually also obtain photographic evidence. If you wish to see these, please contact us immediately and we will supply copies.

Please note that it is not a requirement of Italian law that photographic evidence should be available. Italian automatic photos are taken from behind the car as it is against privacy guidelines for pictures of private individuals’ faces to be taken. Please remember that it is the person renting the hire car who is liable for the payment of the traffic offence so it is not necessary for the driver to be identified.

If you have lodged an appeal with the competent authority, please let us have a copy of your correspondence and any proof of delivery available.

Car hire companies sometimes charge a fee in line with their terms and conditions for managing the administrative work necessary to reply to the request from the Italian Municipal Police. The fine itself is never payable to the car hire company.