Electronic Traffic Ticket Over 2 Years and 3 Months Old

From the time of violation the authority issuing the fine has 90 days to notify the owner of the vehicle (the rental agency).
From the time the owner (rental agency) has received the notification, they have 60 days to communicate to the authorities the name and address of the renter who was renting the vehicle at the time of violation.
From the time the authorities have received notification of the actual renter from the rental agency, the authorities have 90 days to notify the renter of the violation, if the renter resides in Italy, or 360 days if the renter resides outside of Italy.
Given the above timeline, if this is your first time receiving the notification, the authorities are clearly way past the deadline to notify you, as at the latest they should have notified you within 17 months of the violation. If they sent you this now, in 2026, it means there are morons working at the Polizia Municipale of Somma Vesuviana, who think they can get away with it and still collect.
If you presented a recourse to the Peace Judge, this violation would be dismissed as they sent it beyond the legal time. Doing so from abroad would probably be cumbersome.
You can probably ignore it, however there is the possibility that the local authorities might assign this debt to a collection agency part of an international network. So in the future you might get contacted by a collection agency in the US, part of that network, that tries to collect that amount (actually a much larger amount). If that happens they don’t stand a chance to collect that amount or to have it enforced it in a U.S. Court. However they might try to pressure you, and maybe even report that debt to a credit bureau. You can get the collectors off your back easily by sending a “cease or desist” letter, in which you also state you dispute the debt. But if it reaches that point, you need to monitor your credit and if necessary dispute the record with the credit bureau (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion).
If you decide to ignore it, just wait. Not all Italian cities use collection agencies. If Somma Vesuciana does, come back and let us know.

There is another point of view to consider. It doesn’t sound like you are contesting that the violation occurred, only that you were not notified in a timely manner. Of course, being notified in a timely manner might have made remembering that day of driving much easier!

If you think that you actually did speed that day, why not pay the fine and be done with it?

Totally your call, but that is what I would probably do.

Amazing how many people that drive in Italy get these late notice tickets.
This one for going 9K per hour more or about 5 MPH.
I wouldn't pay the ticket, also, I would never drive again in Italy.

There are literally thousands of fines that are dismissed by the Peace Judge (Giudice di Pace) when Italians present a recourse for late notification. Note that when Italians are driving their own car they must also be notified of the fine within 90 days. It often doesn’t happen. Unfortunately local governments use all kind of tactics to try to collect in any possible way, and since there is no negative consequence (other than having the fine reversed by the judge) for the local authorities to try to push the envelope and take a chance, they try in the hope that someone will pay anyhow just to get the matter off their back. Personally, and that is my choice, I wouldn’t pay, but that is my choice and I understand that this might cause some headache, whether one chooses to dispute the matter legally by filing a recourse to the judge, or having to get the collection agency leave you alone (which is easy, having audited agencies who we employ to collect our hospital debts), but which carries the possibility of a rogue collector to report your debt to the bureaus which then requires you to monitor your credit and dispute it to have the debt expunged.
In the court case below, an Italian motorist received a notification passed the 90 days. Apparently the post office had returned the letter to the authorities for wrong address or something, when the authorities sent the letter again to the proper address it was done beyond the 90 days because of a delay on the part of the post office. The judge ruled that that is also to be considered a late notification, even though there was a delay due to the post office. It’s a money grabbing practice by the Italian local governments, which, in spite of the efforts by courts and central government, it doesn’t stop. If the Italian government changed the law requiring all fines to be paid to a national fund, rather than to the local authority, this abuse would stop. They need to stop the money incentive. Local governments are greedy, and these speed traps have nothing to do with road safety and everything to do with revenue stream for the city. It’s basically a tax. Some of those machines are located in very safe 4 lane divided highways where neither cyclists or pedestrians can go, but which present the highest opportunity for collection since speed limits are set at unnecessarily very low level just to maximize the possibility of violations. Use Waze when you drive in Italy as Waze notifies you of those machines and also the random police checks.

https://ntplusdiritto.ilsole24ore.com/art/multa-annullata-se-notificata-piu-90-giorni-l-accertamento-ADKFt82?refresh_ce=1

What Carol now retired; you did the crime, do the time.

Correct, I'm not really contesting the fine since the letter indicates the location, time, date, and my rental vehicle's registration plate. And I was in that area on that date. Whether I can remember if I was driving 5mph (9 kph) over the posted speed limit over 2 years ago is something I think very few people could ever remember. I'm law abiding when it comes to driving both here in the US and abroad, but I couldn't tell you if I exceeded the posted speed limit by 5 mph on my drive home from work yesterday, let alone remember over 2 years ago in a foreign country.

What I'm disputing is the sheer amount of time that has passed since the offense occurred and they notified me. In which I believe that the fine should be dismissed/canceled. What I really don't want to do is pay a fine that is so old and beyond their reasonable time frame to notify me and collect the amount.

Again, even though I can't recall exceeding the speed in this area, the evidence they provided clearly shows that I did. So that's fine. However the dispute is whether they acted and proceeded within their law's appropriate timeframe to provide notification to the offender.

Somewhat related.... a friend of mine went to Italy in 2025, renting a car as well. Spent time in Rome and Florence. After returnung to the US, about 3 months later he received a notification from the USPS that he had to go to his local post office to sign for a letter. It was 2 egistered letters from the Vatican!! Turns out while in Florence he crossed a ZTL zone and had to pay the fine.

His letter provided details as to where the ZTL was, along with time and day, and a link to a site which had several photographs of the committed offense.

Of course, a ZTL offense is greater than my 9km/h offense, but I would've expected a similar circumstance with my situation.

In fact, my letter also includes a website URL, however when going to the site it only presents a login ID and password page.

Thank you everyone for your replies so far.

Cintoman

Your rental car company never put through a ~ $35-$50 'documentation fee' on your credit card in the months shortly after the rental?

Once again Roberto has provided a thorough response on the subject.

Thank you again for all your replies, information, experience and insight. I really do appreciate it. So I looked back 2+ years on my credit card and have not received any additional charges from the Car Rental company (Sicily by Car) at all in the subsequent months following my June 2024 trip (going all the way to April 2025 credit card statement).

Again, I'm not disputing the charge, but instead the lack of timeliness on the part of the Italian government that issued this ticket. I'm not even sure how someone could remember that far back said violation. I could see if I was caught traveling 300km/h on an Italian highway...that would've been something I'd remember. Traveling 9km/h over the speed limit is not a situation I'd likely remember. But again, they did catch me. My thinking is that I'm not going to pay this fine, being that they didn't act in a timely manner to provide notification of this violation within the time allotted by their own laws.

-- Cintoman

that's 9kph after the 5% allowance though

They didn't follow their rules either. Seems like offsetting penalties to me, no foul.

If you get contacted by a collection agency (not all Italian cities assign these debts to collection agencies), within 30 days from that first contact request in writing all the details of the debt and documentary evidence. If they contact you a second time without documentation, write to them a “cease or desist letter” and send registered mail. Mention that you have never received debt verification. The agency cannot report you to a credit bureau if they have not provided with debt verification. That would be a violation of the FDCPA and would entitle you to $1,000 compensation. If they provide documentary evidence you can continue to dispute the debt on account of late delivery (I can provide the Italian regulatory information). To stop them from contacting you you can write a cease and desist letter. An agency can report a disputed debt only after sending documentary evidence, but the debt must be reported to the credit bureau marked as “disputed”. If they report to the credit bureaus and it appears in your report, you can dispute alao with the credit bureaus and have it expunged from the report. That is not a valid claim and you don’t have to pay it.
You can Google all the information on the FDCPA and the debtor’s right according to that Act. Also you should be able to find sample templates of the Cease and Desist letter. Even though you violated the traffic law, they also violated the law by notifying you beyond the statute of limitations.

Below are the images of the highways where you got the ticket.

People need to pay attention to these signs because the areas subject to electronic speed checks are always signaled ahead (as well as alerted on Waze).

This was the first road sign alerting you that there will be an electronic speed check in 1000 meters (1km) at the road stretch between the milestones at 11.211km and 10.333km. On the left side of the roadway you can see the sign indicating you are at the milestone km12:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/F1QESMszJWfXkbty8

This is the second sign alerting you of the electronic mean average speed check coming up in 400 meters. This is located at the km 11.600 of the highway (there is a small milestone sign on the guardrail on the left indicating VI 11, which stands for 11.6 km
https://maps.app.goo.gl/UbicQxdrgq3uKcPg7

Here, on the right side of the road you can see the camera on that post. There is the image of a policeman hat on it.
You are now at the milestone km 11.2 of the highway
This is the first camera of the segment where they calculate the average speed
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZWFyvDu7AdWVpUi37

Here, less than 1km later, there is the second camera which immortalized you (look at the post on the right side of the roadway with the image of a cop hat).
https://maps.app.goo.gl/E9PX77F9NEKhFUyh7

Based on the time it took you to cover the distance between the two cameras, the electronic speed check system calculated your average speed on that segment.

As you can see on the image below, the posted speed sign on that highway is 90 km/h:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/xf2R5konDJ9QYzXJA

Once again, for all of you who plan to drive in Italy, pay attention to the signs (and look at your Waze display), and, at least where you are warned of upcoming speed check, slow down below the speed limit. I know it's unnerving, because it adds stress to the driving, and the speed limits are unnecessarily low (on a freeway like this one, the speed could easily be 100 or 110 km/h, about 65 mph (I'm sure in California the posted limit would be 65 mph on a road like this one), but local authorities love your money. It's really a motorists' tax.

I got a parking ticket in Alberobello years ago. I paid next day, in person, in cash, with my Italian host with me conducting the transaction in Italian. I got a receipt. Months later, I got letter stating I had not paid the fine. I submitted all of my proof to the government office and the car rental company showing that I had paid. It was accompanied by a letter written in Italian (not by me, so you know it was ok). After several exchanges with the rental car company, 6 months later, they said ok, you paid it. Moral of the story: You pay your money, you take your chances.

After returnung to the US, about 3 months later he received a
notification from the USPS that he had to go to his local post office
to sign for a letter. It was 2 egistered letters from the Vatican!!
Turns out while in Florence he crossed a ZTL zone and had to pay the
fine.

Why would the Vatican send a registered letter if the ZTL violation was in Florence??

Roberto da Firenze .....thank you SO much for those images. This was perfect. I was trying to Google map them based on the info I got in the letter, but it only got me an approximate location on that highway. So your images were spot on. Not that I can remember going by there, since it was nearly 2 1/2 years ago. Driving in Europe as much as I have, I'm well accustomed to the signage on the roads. And I'm usually pretty good about keeping my speed at or below the limits set on the highways. Obviously not at this section.

I really do appreciate you taking the time to post these images and providing your detailed explanation.

ChristineH.....yeah it was weird for my friend who got the 2 ZTL violations (I think 1 was going into the ZTL and the other was coming out of the same ZTL) in Florence, but I definitely remember him showing me the violations, and it said "Vaticano". Stranger was that he wasn't in Rome until several days later during his trip. And he kept his car at the hotel which was on the outskirts of Rome, taking the public bus into Rome on each of the days he was visiting.

--Cintoman