Overspeeding fine 575 Euros

Even after application of all the 'fudge factors' you are still 40+ over, I would not expect the authorities to 'round down'

Perhaps Roberto will see this and offer some insight/answers.

For other US readers, OP was doing 85 in a 55 zone.

Seriously? You want to reduce a traffic fine when you were speeding way over the limit, based on maths?

Mate, sort yourself out and stop putting lives at risk.

If you haven't received a registered letter from Italy (explaining how to appeal or pay with a 30% discount) you haven't received any fine and the 60 days haven't yet started.

Who sent the letter dated February 5? What's the mail address? Are you sure it isn't the rental agency forwarding a letter they received? Or the cops warning you that a registered letter is on its way?

The 60 days is the period you have to pay or appeal, the clock can't start before you have received the fine at your "real" address.

"Data riapertura termini :19/12/2018"

They means: since we knew the offender's name on 19/12, we have 360 days from 19/12 to contact him/her. It seems the rental company needed some weeks to tell the cops who was actually driving that car on October 30.

If I were on a German autobahn with no speed limit posted, I wouldn’t hesitate to go 150 + kmh. However on a secondary highway on Sardinia I doubt I’d even hit 100. Does the .15 kmh overage seem fair? Well, it’s after a 5% adjustment so where should it stop - at 5.03%? Having taken a safe driving class to avoid getting speeding points on my license, I remember the instructor saying “if you’re going 1 mile per hour over a posted limit, you are breaking the law.”

Don’t know about Italy, but for my tickets from Spain and Germany (about 5 mph over the limit), I received a letter in the mail direct from the municipalities. They did have a photo of the vehicle as well as where the infraction occurred. They were received after I was billed by the rental car company. I promptly paid them. For one German ticket, I never received notification from the municipality, so I guess it figured it wasn’t worth sending.

Sicily By Car is now out of the equation as they fulfilled their obligation by giving your info to the Italian authorities. Your credit card will not be charged by others. Now the Italian jurisdiction (probably through a credit collection company) will contact you for payment and their enforcement options depend on this question: What is your residence / citizenship?

Ouch! That hurts.
However 137km/h (85.14 miles per hour) is a bit too much for a 4 lane freeway in an urban area, even for a heavy foot like me.
In America cops start shooting bullets if they catch you at that speed. An Italian would have the license suspended for 30 days too for that infraction.
This is the 'exact' speed camera machine that caught you speeding (see above the sign 'autovelox')
https://goo.gl/maps/b5fLAcGQxXn

Q1: Since the owner of the vehicle is a rental company the fine went there first. They had 60 days to appeal, or in this case, communicate to authorities the name of the renter (yours). The rental company charged you 61 euro admin fee for that service to the authorities. What you received is only the letter the rental company received from the authorities. That letter is the documentation for them to support the 61 euro admin fee (as per rental contract).
Q2: 19/12/2018 appears to be the date the authorities received the name of the renter, which was also communicated to the rental company. For residents abroad the authorities have 360 days to communicate the fine. So expect something in the mail from the authorities (probably Polizia Stradale) by Dec. 12, 2019.
The fine is 532 euro exactly for speeding in excess of 40.0 km/h (even by 1 millimeter per hour) but no more than 60.0 km/h.
Q3: Once you receive the letter from the authorities you will receive all the info to view your photo.
Q4: Once you receive the official notification from the authorities, not an email from the rental company, (usually via registered mail), you have 60 days to pay. If you don't pay within 60 days, the fine is increased by 50% of the maximum fine for that infraction. For your infraction the fine max is 2174 euro, therefore after the 61st day you'd pay 532+(2174/2)= 532+1087=1619 euro. Plus I guess the 25 euro you mentioned (not sure what that is). The fine is also increased by interest (10% of the amount due after 6 months followed by another 10% every 6 months).
The rental car company is never responsible for the fine, therefore they won't have to pay if you don't pay, hence, they will not charge your credit card for the amount if you decide not to pay. Generally if you don't pay, the authorities engage an international credit collection company with an affiliate in your country, to try to collect the amount from you. I honestly do not know their success in having that credit enforced. I know they collect about 25% of the credits due, but I think it's mostly due to the good will of the people paying to get them off their neck. I don't think those fines are enforceable abroad in a foreign court (not even within the EU currently), so all they could do is report you to credit bureaus for being a bad debtor.

Hi guys,
Thanks a lot for your responses and I respectfully acknowledge the critics against me driving fast. To be honest I myself can't believe this because approx. 100Kms before this incident we made a stop because my sister-in-law was feeling unwell and dizzy. We made a 30 min break at a gas station. I also remember my wife controlling my speed all the way right from Alghero till Cagliari. Our flight was at evening 20.00hrs and the incident occurred at 13.46hrs.
I will pay what is due, no doubt, but I wanted some formal communication with some proof before I pay this sum (which for me isn't small).

Thanks once again, I will wait for the formal letter of communication.

Wish you guys a nice day!

It is certainly refreshing to read a post from a driver who was ticketed in Italy and does not whine about it, just plans to pay it. Not a word about how American tourists are targeted in some mysterious way by the speed cameras.

I don't ever recall being shot at for speeding...that must be something new.

The only thing I've seen at certain times (on the highways), are radar guns State Troopers point at oncoming traffic. Then up ahead are two or three other troopers pulling over the cars. I have no clue how it's all connected. I don't speed to the point of getting a citation.

I rented a car in Wales and England for 4 weeks and really made an effort not to speed, but I received a ticket for driving 35 MPH in a 30MPH zone. The location was in Gloucestershire near the Cotswolds. I suspect that I was decelerating upon entering one of those small town and just didn't decelerate quickly enough. Fine was 40 GBP or $51 US.

I don ever recall being shot for speeding...

It happens more often to minority males, generally driving without a shirt.
At least based on what I’ve seen on “Cops”