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about ZTLs and driving in Italy: what you see in Sicily will not help you in the north

We rented a car for 2 weeks in Sicily twice, once in 2015 and again a year later. It was relatively uneventful. If there were ZTLs, I did not see them. On an autostrada, we saw a car tailgating a police vehicle, and both were going at least 20 kph over the speed limit. Apple Maps offered us an opportunity to drive the car down a flight of stairs, but we declined. We never drove at all in or near Palermo.

We received no fines, no tickets of any kind.

These experiences turned out to have poorly prepared us for driving in northern Italy in 2017. We picked up a rental car in La Spezia, and had it for 12 days. 4 months after returning, I got the first bill , about €25, from Hertz for furnishing the Italian authorities our information re a ZTL violation in Prato, about 2 hours after we rented the car. Gulp. I thought I watched carefully for ZTLs. All we did was drop a friend at the train station and leave town.

From reading these forums, I expect, sometime in the next few months, to receive from those authorities a fine, and instructions how to pay it.

What will interfere with my sleep is wondering what else I unwittingly did during the ensuing 11 days. We never went near Rome in the car, and in Orvieto & Gubbio we parked where we were told to by our hosts, and never drove around in town. I'm worried about Montepulciano, though. Time will tell.

Lessons learned driving in Sicily, such as it being OK to tailgate a police vehicle while speeding on an autostrada may not be applicable to other locations in Italy.

Posted by
3812 posts

The police car was escorting the second one. Probably there was an anti mafia prosecutor in the second.

Don't you know nothing about Sicily? They were so close to make the first car blow-up and give some protection against the "wave", in case of a bomb under the highway.

Is it so difficult to think: "maybe i don't know enough to judge what happens in foreign countries" before writing?

There are ZTL areas in Sicily, but they were not camera controlled in 2015.

Posted by
16209 posts

The car tailgating the police was likely an unmarked police car, maybe escorting a politician or judicial authority (Sicily is not dangerous for tourists, but it is for people who fight Cosa Nostra).

The car tailgating the police, could have also been an American tourist, not familiar with this forum, pissed at having received hundreds of ZTL violations over the years and intent on exacting revenge on hapless Italian cops who were running away to escape the wrath.

Posted by
2147 posts

We will be renting a car in Sicily in mid March and have been wondering were any ZTLs are. We are particulary wondering about Noto, Ragusa, Modica and Cefalu. We will be dropping off our car north of Palermo.

Posted by
55 posts

darioalb wrote

"Is it so difficult to think: "maybe i don't know enough to judge what happens in foreign countries" before writing?"

I'm not sure what your point is here. Are you saying two speeding vehicles were not two speeding vehicles? Are you saying the one in front was not a police vehicle?

Help me and other readers to understand the judgment you seem to believe I'm making.

I received zero multe salate / hefty fines driving in Sicily for 2 weeks, 2 times, and I got one two hours after I began to drive in northern Italy. That's not a judgment, it is a description. I was trying to help others who might drive in Italy.

Posted by
21274 posts

Roberto, once again trying to watch the Super Bowl, and you made me spit beer all over my phone.