Speeding Ticket in Italy

“The cost was absurd (over 700 in USD) so I decided to not pay it.” I doubt that any country including your own would accept that as a reason to not pay a fine.

To answer your question, it is highly unlikely to directly impact your trip. I can’t imagine them “forcing you to pay”, but you do appear to have an unpaid ticket.

Pay the bill I heard on Facebook they are like bounty hunters and find you eventually by tracing your data.

That’s a lot of money. You must have gone way above the speed limit. The statute of limitations on traffic fines is 5 years, so if 5 years have passed from the last contact, the point is moot.

In any case, there is no chance you will be caught. First of all no Italian border officers will likely check your passport between CH and I, if they do they have no idea you have an unpaid traffic ticket from a few years back. Even if you told them they still wouldn’t force you to pay or put you in jail. Your ticket was either sold to an international collection agency or simply tossed.

I too see the chances of being caught as low. However, I would not be renting a car in Italy again if I were you.

Let the record show that the only reason I pay foreign tickets is because my wife makes me.

so I decided to not pay it.

And now you'd better decide not to pass through Italy.

This is just astounding to me, that people do not think they need to pay for their mistakes!

@ Paul of the Frozen North. Your wife is truly "your better half."

Thank you so much for everybody's feedback. I was not driving recklessly. If the fine was fair I would pay it, but this seems like a tourist trap money making scheme if you ask me. So just to confirm, they do not scan your passports upon arrival to Lugano?

Thank you again!

How would the speed cameras know if you were a tourist or not?
You were speeding.
Most would consider that reckless

$150 is the average cost for a speeding ticket. $700 is just taking advantage of people. I was not even driving very fast. Look for a license plate frame or placard that advertises a rental car company.

I found the idea of what is a "fair" fine being determined by the person doing the infraction rather than the court an interesting concept.

This is some information I found on the Internet about speeding fines in Italy. It was from 2015, so I assume the fine for each of these brackets has gone up some.

Up to 10 km/h over the speed limit: €41 with a 30 percent increase if the infraction is committed between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Between 11-40 km/h: €169 (and three points “subtracted” from your driving record; although I don’t how this affects foreigners).

Between 40-60 km/h: €531 (and six points subtracted; your license is suspended if the infraction is committed between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.).

More than 60 km/h: €828 (and ten points subtracted as well as suspension of your license for six to twelve months).

Tickets enforced by cameras in Italy are indeed a money making scheme for the local governments. That is true.

What is not true is that they target foreigners. Italians are affected much more than foreigners, and unlike foreigners, it is harder for Italians to get away with it without paying. If you don't pay, as you did, nobody from Equitalia (the Italian agency that collects those amounts) is coming to your house in America. The cameras don't know who is a tourist. They take photos automatically of any license plate exceeding the limit, or entering a restricted traffic lane.

$700 in your case may have included some other fees for late payment. To incur such penalty you must have exceeded the speed limit by over 40km/h (25 mph)

Good to know thank you! That makes sense. Does anybody know if they scan passports when you arrive in Lugano or do they just check them? Many thanks!

There is no passport check or scan when you get off the train in Lugano (Switzerland) when arriving from Italy. I suppose there could be a check if they're looking for someone specific, but I've crossed from Italy to Switzerland and back a dozen times by train in the last few years and have never seen a check on either side. By car, it is more common to be pulled over entering Switzerland, but in that case they are generally looking for evidence of undeclared purchases in Italy, not passports.

Stories like this are why I routinely recommend not driving, especially in Italy. We will take a tour, which will be expensive to go outside of Firenza and do some wineries. But it will be cheaper than renting a car and getting a ZTL ticket as well as having the car sit in a car park. Plus I have no idea what penalties in Italy for "driving under the influence" are. Now I will just enjoy the wine, and let the driver do the driving.

.... why I routinely recommend not driving,..... OR strictly adhering to the rules and regulations. I know it is hard driving on the express way and being steady passed by nearly everyone. Keep reminding ourselves, "We are not in a hurry." It is their country, their rules, and they get to set the fines.