Ticketing foreign drivers is big business in Florence.

Henry's post is very helpful, showing that these tickets get sent overwhelmingly to Italians, with only about 12% going to non-Italians. As for the long delay, my philosophy about Italy is that the good comes along with some bad. Most of us love the laidback, "enjoy life" philosophy that we find in much of Italy. Along with that comes an entrenched bureaucracy that moves at a snail's pace. If you want speedy efficiency, you've always got Switzerland. If you want polite and helpful, you've got Canada. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm in the process of planning our fourth and fifth trips to Italy. We will not be renting a car.

CR, This has been an interesting discussion, and I have a few "reflections" and some questions to add.... > As I recall, the fines for violating ZTL areas are about €140. Although it's somewhat common in Italy for fines to increase and even double if not paid immediately (many are collected "on the spot"), I'm curious on how your fine ended up to be $500? > Regardless of the scams you quoted, I really doubt that fines are intended strictly to "ensnare" foreign drivers. As the others have pointed out, it's quite likely that many Italians who live in places other than Florence are also fined, as well as others from the E.U. who may not read Italian. > I'm speculating here, but the long delay may be partially explained by the speed at which Italian bureaucracy works. The situation would be exacerbated by involving a third party such as European Municipality Outsourcing, and then a Collection Agency. > Given the amount of revenue they've been losing from "scoff law" drivers from outside Italy, I've been wondering how long it would take them to become more aggressive with collection efforts. Your situation partially answers that question. With the current state of the economy in Italy, I suspect they may "streamline" the process even more in the near future and find some way to collect fines before visitors leave the E.U. I recall reading a post on one of the travel message boards in the last few months, regarding a couple from the U.K. who were stopped at the airport and required to pay their fines. This is one reason I prefer to use public transit for the most part, and only use rental cars "strategically" for specific destinations. Hopefully you won't have any further problems on future trips. Cheers!

From another source: Every 40 seconds, a motorist in Florence receives a traffic violation according to figures recently released by city officials in 2009. Traffic police issue approximately 90 tickets every minute, 1,253 tickets a day. The fines on these tickets average out to about 140 euro per year, per motorist, and they bring about 52 million to city hall each year, making it one of Italy's most heaviest fined cities. Local officials note that the amount of money that enters the municipal budget through traffic fines has tripled in the last 10 years.

You committed a traffic violation. If you weren't sure what the sign said you shouldn't be driving. The fact that it took them so long to catch up with you isn't anything new. The fact that they are now sending people to debt collections is. I don't see that they have done anything wrong. They are trying to enforce their laws. Considering that they had that many infractions can you blame them for wanting it to come to a stop? If they were able to fine you on the spot I don't think they would have as big a problem as they currently have. Donna

While I usually not to wade into these discussions, a couple of points do need to be made. Italians get nailed with ZTL fines just like tourists, they just happen to be more informed of the situation and know not to drive into town centers. While the argument that the signs were in Italian or showed symbols you may not know, etc. seems reasonable to you, the signs are no more different than the many traffic signs around the world that you may be unfamiliar with. Educating yourself about local traffic laws is your responsibility. Ignorance of the laws is not a defense. The concept of the ZTL has certainly multiplied in Italy over the past decade and is indeed a new source of revenue, but it is not unigue to Italy, other European countries have similar restricted areas (London for example) and use speed and traffic cameras. They are prevalent in the US as well. In the case of the ZTL, it is intended to keep traffic out of historic centers to retain some of the history that you paid many dollars to visit. The Radar and Red light camera fraud that you noted was limited and had nothing to do with ZTLs. In that case, most of the victims were Italian in fact. Bottom line is you violated a law and had to pay. I do agree that the time lag is an issue. Italian and EU residents do have some protection regarding time limits that violations need to be notified and of course then paid, but besides a fine, they can also lose their license if they ignore the notice. Thank you for the note about a collection agency tracking you down, many on here wonder about the ramifications of ignoring a notice...now we know!

I've driven in Italy many times and I don't think they target tourists. Obviously tourists aren't going to be as familiar with traffic regulations as the locals, so on that basis alone you'd expect tourists to get more tickets. Additionally, most violations are recorded by cameras, which are about as impartial as you can get. And I don't think it's fair to criticize Italy for posting its traffic signs in Italian. The ZTL's are a problem - but think of what the traffic would be like in a centuries-old city like Florence if there were no ZTL's. It'd be utter chaos. Finally, I think if you're going to drive in a foreign country, it's incumbent on you to learn their road signs & symbols - particularly the symbols for No Parking, One Way Street, and No Left Turn.

Donna, While that is true, the magnitude of the fine was over the top given this was a minor traffic violation that was committed on a minor road on the outskirts of the city, and not in one of their "limited traffic zones" in the center. Granted if the fine was for running a red light or for excessive speeding I would understand. Apart from this one infraction, I am proud of my completely clean driving record. Furthermore the municipal police were in receipt of my details 6 weeks after the infraction. A 12 month delay in notifying us is unacceptable and I would say highly irregular. Also given the photo-radar and red light traffic scam that was reported in some of the most highly regarded English speaking newspapers on the planet we were very suspicious. The scam was widespread across Italy (affecting some 30 towns) where by fraudulent local government officials rigged speed radar to show higher speeds and tampered with traffic lights to change from green to red without turning orange. Unfortunately for the Italians news like this isn't good PR and it makes in my opinion the traffic tickets they issue highly questionable.

Paul and Tom, I've vacationed in Europe virtually every year of my life, and am very familiar with the traffic signs. However, the sign in question was a very small No Entry sign with small access restrictions printed above and below the sign. Cars were parked in the street, I didn't deliberately ignore the sign, it was a genuine mistake I didn't see it.

Here's a lesson from Canada, for the Italians. About 10 years ago I remember getting a parking ticket in Vancouver, BC, for unknowingly parking on a restricted street. When I phoned up city hall to pay the fine I explained I was unfamiliar with the area, they did a check while I was on the phone to see that I didn't have any other tickets or traffic violations on record and duly considered it to be a genuine mistake, and very kindly let me off. I wasn't expecting it. But how nice, and how different to the treatment the Italians are doling out.

It sounds to me like you're just trying to justify why you shouldn't have been ticketed and why no one else should be either. I think they newspaper you quote says it best ""Florence, Italy, issued 860,000 traffic citations in 2008." Think about all the people that live in Florence and have to deal with this type of disregard or lack of knowledge about their laws on a day to day basis. People driving where they have no right to drive, people running red lights, people going the wrong way up one way streets.....I'm sure the citizens of Florence are tired of dealing with it and are happy the laws are what they are and that their police force enforces them and demands payment. The fact that you received notice about 12 months after the infraction and refused to pay until they sent a collection agency after you tells us that you had no intent on paying until it became serious. Donna

I don't think you have read any of my posts Donna. There have been plenty of people on this forum and others who have complained they felt these notifications were bogus given the time lag and because of the very cheap stationery stock they were sent on. Florence doles out more fines than any other city in Italy, I can't believe there are that many drivers out there that deliberately go out of their way to violate traffic laws. According to 2010 figures by comparison the city of Florence with its 365,000 residents made the same amount of money in traffic fines ($75 million) as the whole of New York State did, which has a population of 19.5 million. Come on!

CR; I'm curious, after being contacted by a "debt collection agency here in the US", what was it about their message that gave you the impression that you really had to pay? If one were to really want to argue the case, there would have to be some sort of reasonable statute of limitations on this sort of thing. What did they say that gave you the impression you couldn't just ignore it further?

Randy, When I first got the call I thought it was a scam. I had received no written notification from this agency whatsoever prior to their call - and didn't know them from Adam. Being suspicious I said I would like to contact the municipality to determine whether they were genuine. On hearing this the person I spoke to gave me just over one working day to get confirmation from Florence, or otherwise the fine amount would go up. He then went on to say I should pay the fine now rather than waiting for confirmation, because it would take some time to hear back from Florence - which raised more suspicions. We had tried to contact the municipality directly before with a number the car rental company gave us when we received notification of the fine in 2010 - but didn't have any luck. I eventually tracked down an email address and got confirmation from the municipality that this agency was bone fide about 4 days after the deadline. The agency claim the debt has been patriated here in the US.

'plenty of people . . .have complained they felt these notifications were bogus given the time lag' It doesn't matter what how many people feel, it matters what the law is. You say you've been in europe a lot and know what the signs look like. You described the sign you saw (a standard ztl sign) and you ignored it. You broke the law. What's 'suspicious looking' about the EMO notificaton? They're the collection agency, just because their form doesn't match you idea of what's not suspicious doesn't make it bogus. You make a jump from possibly accurate stastics to an unfounded conclusion: 'clearly designed to ensnare foreign drivers'. There can't be more than three quarters of a million foreign drivers in Florence - - especially due to the chorus of 'don't drive in Florence' on nearly every travel forum in the world. Chase back through the threads here and see how many people knock themselves out going to the airport to do something as simple as picking up a rental car in town. You try to make the case that, since it was a minor ztl, the penalty should not be as great. Huh? The law is still the law, no matter how it came into being. Civilization pretty much depends on laws being applied uniformly. Why should you get an exception because you're from somewhere else? These towns came along way before cars. They're about to bust at the seams. Limiting non-essential traffic helps a little. All you're doing is venting. If you don't like the situation, you have two choices: a - Change your citizenship, move to Florence, and vote or start a campaign to change things. b - Show your extreme displeasure by not going back.

I guess the takeaway from all this is that, if you go to Italy & get a traffic ticket, just pay it. Otherwise, you risk owing a much larger fine and potentially suffering a ding to your credit rating. Hardly worth it.

CR, I have read what you posted I just don't agree with it. There are many people here who have questioned the validity of tickets they've gotten a year or two later and we always tell them they are legit tickets. The fact that Florence has such a problem with people breaking the driving laws and that they are relentless in seeing them paid doesn't prove anything other than they have a serious problem with people breaking the law- either by accident or on purpose. I don't think many people go on vacation with the intent to bread the law but it does happen. How can you fault a country for enforcing it's laws. You don't have to agree with how they go about it but they do have the right to enforce the laws as they see fit. Donna

Look at the end of the day I don't have a beef with paying a fine - I am genuinely an honest law abiding person. It's the process they employ to notify individuals, which I think has to be substantially improved. If we had received notification of this infraction within a reasonable time frame (not 12 months), the notification would have been more believable, and would have been paid for, and forgotten by now. There simply has to be something wrong though with the magnitude of these fines, if a small city like Florence with a population of 365,000 earns the same amount from traffic fines annually as my state does with a population of 19.5 million. It's this part that doesn't pass the smell test in my book. Granted they can set the laws as they see fit, but are the size of the fines they hand out fair and reasonable in the context.

CR,
This is from a Florence resident but you could probably use goggle to get the original reference. "Some more data from today's newspapers. In 2007 the Florence municipality issued 858,506 fines. About 420,000 fines were issued to Florentines; 330,000 to non-Florentine Italians; about 100,000 to non-Italians. 5119 appeals were filed with the Giudice di pace; the judge ruled on 2001 cases - in 1007 cases the fine was voided." It doesn't appear that they "ensnare foreign drivers".

Henry, One person posted on another forum that a year later they are still receiving fine notifications in the mail and are now up to $1000 in fines, which is not a good way to end a trip.

What one country may see as a reasonable punishment may not be what another does. What one country may consider a reasonable time may be faster or slower than that of another country. There is often an expression mentioned here. "This-is-Italy". Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Italy is different, and different parts even more different. I watched a show on TV just now, recorded while I was in Venice and Rome over the last two weeks, about the emergency services in Venice. I observed a boat enter a boat ZTL. There happened to be a fairly high ranking Locale Police officer on a police boat there, with a BBC film crew. The officer shouted over to the captain of the small craft that the fine was €2058 and he would send the bill to his house. T-I-I. And you think that the ZTL car fines in Florence are bad? BTW- the captain of the small boat was not only Italian he was Venetian.

The ZTL issue is heavily covered here. Many don't like it and don't like the fines. Many are inclined, like you, to ignore them. But the point of ZTL's is to limit traffic in the central cities. They were not built for cars and traffic was making life almost unbearable for many. Florence is one of the most popular users of ZTL's, but many smaller towns and cities and even Rome use them. It's not just a revenue maker. I'd guess some Italians ignore it as the "cost" of driving into the city. Others are unaware and others just get lost or turned around and suddenly find themselves in a ZTL. The bottom line is that it is the law in Italy, you are driving in Italy and you are responsible for the infractions you make. The delay in getting tickets has been attributed to the volume. Most people report getting their ticket within about 6-9 months. And Italy has never been accused of being overly-efficient. Your experience does reinforce our policy here, which is to advise people to pay the fines. Now we know that failure to do so can result in a collection agency and higher fees later.

CR I know it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, but let it go as a lesson learned , and a lesson shared here that may prevent it from happening to someone else. I've seen a number of posters on this and other sites who were of the opinion that they wouldn't have to pay the fines- apparently that may no longer be the case. It does appear that you knew that you'd violated the restricted zone, so I'm not sure why you considered the first notice as bogus? I'm glad you posted your experience here- hopefully it will save other travellers from having the same problem.

Douglas, As I said in an earlier post I was not in a ZTL zone, I couldn't have been more than 15 minutes from the airport, I was on the outskirts of town. Different rules different place, a buddy got stopped for speeding in France last summer. He was doing about 130 kmh on a 70 road, which is excessive. He paid an on the spot fine of 80 Euros I think. Where by comparison I drive down a badly posted one way street, not speeding, in a very quite area of town (probably took a wrong turn, or wrongly interpreted what the gps was saying) no ones life was endangered and I get dinged 140 Euros. I know they're different countries, but really. Lesson learned I guess.

Maggie, This is just it I wasn't aware that I committed any violation until I received the notification from EMO almost 12 months later. I wasn't trying to get away with anything. We genuinely thought it was a scam given the length of time to receiving the notification.

If you didn't know you were committing a violation, how is it you can so precisely describe the sign posted warning of violations?

Doug, Because they emailed me a google picture of the entrance to the street I supposedly drove down, and I can see the sign in it.

That helps. But then the entrance to the street was posted with a warning sign that you did not obey. Let's set Florence aside. European streets are full of signs that are unfamiliar to Americans. But we are legally obligated to obey their laws just as they are ours. We can't go careening around the historic streets of Europe without regard to their laws and then claim they are scamming us when we disregard their warnings.

Doug, I know what a No Entry sign looks like and the street was not a street of historic importance by any stretch judging by the Google street view they sent. Apparently access is provided to residents and emergency vehicles. It was a quite Sunday afternoon and no one was on the road at 1:00 in the outskirts of town we were driving in. So tell me Doug what is it exactly about Florence that attracts so many deliberately bad drivers who seem to wantonly want to break traffic laws? Maybe Bad Drivers Anonymous run year round vacation trips to city. New York State 2010 (excluding NYC) generated $76 million in traffic fines - population 10 million or so. Florence 2010 generated appx $75 million in traffic fines - population 365,000.

There are weird traffic laws that carry huge fines everywhere. Not long after I moved to LA, I was visiting a friend, and at about 8:15am, i turned RIGHT on a GREEN light. And out came the cop. Apparently this intersection was labeled no right turns AT ALL, from 8-10am on weekdays. It was a moving violation so the ticket was over $200 plus fees and traffic school to avoid having a point on my driving/insurance record. That's even more expensive than a ZTL violation and it had the potential to impact my car insurance premium (significantly so). Also, there are red-light cameras in a lot of places and it can take a long time to get the notices. Heck, in LA I know people who've actually gotten tickets for jaywalking. If they did that in Italy, the cops would be doing nothing else!! You can complain about the process and call it underhanded all you want, but that doesn't change the fact that you received something and despite thinking it was suspicious, you failed to investigate it at all and have paid the consequences. Also, the fact that it was referred to a debt collection agency may mean it has made it onto your credit report. You might want to check that. Anyway, interesting to hear this story, after all the reports of "I ignored it, nothing has happened to me" - hopefully others can take heed and 1) just don't drive in Florence (which has got to be the best option) or 2) be vigilant about the ZTLs or 3) accept ignorance of the law and just do the right thing and pay the fine.

Debra, We did investigate it on many occasions but didn't get an answer on the number we were provided with, and furthermore I think you would be suspicious if you had received a notice 12 months after a trip.

I once got a ticket for a parking violation in Genoa three years later. It's just the way Italy works.

CR, thanks for posting all of this info. I have never heard of US debt collectors trying to collect an alledged debt incurred in the EU, so this was especially interesting. BTW, when you got your original notice, did it ariive by Certified or Registered mail? If not, there is no proof that you ever received notice, and this may be especaially important when the debt collector calls you. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act defines what third-party debt collectors are and are not allowed to do when they're collecting a debt from you. You got scammed by the debt collector. Soon after they first contact you, the debt collector is required to notify you of your right to dispute the validity of the debt. Then, you have 30 days! to send a debt validation letter requesting proof that the debt is yours. After receiving your letter, the collector must stop collection activity until they've sent the proof. If the debt collector can't come back with proof that you owe the debt, they're not allowed to contact you anymore. And, you don't have to pay anything more than what you owe. Collectors aren't allowed to charge any interest or fees unless the original contract or by state law allows it. You can dispute an amount that seems unreasonable. I'm not condoneing someone breaking the law, and then trying to get out of paying the fine. If you break the law, you should pay the fine! I am just saying that proper procedures must be followed, and it sounds like that did not happen in your case.

Steve, The agency emailed me proof of the registered letter that the municipality sent, after they called us. As I said in a previous post we tried to dispute this at the time but never got a response from the municipality, furthermore we truly believed given the time lag it took to notify us and the traffic scamming that was being reported in Italy at that time that it was fraudulent. I've never had to deal with a debt collection agency before, good to know the do's and don't, but I don't have any plans to have to deal with one again.

Nigel quoted: "I observed a boat enter a boat ZTL. There happened to be a fairly high ranking Locale Police officer on a police boat there, with a BBC film crew. The officer shouted over to the captain of the small craft that the fine was €2058 and he would send the bill to his house. T-I-I. And you think that the ZTL car fines in Florence are bad? BTW- the captain of the small boat was not only Italian he was Venetian". Do you honestly believe the boat owner paid this amount. Come on, Italy is rife with corruption. The officer most likely visited the violators house in person and for a much lesser consideration made the fine go away. That's the way it works in Italy. Niall Ferguson Professor at Harvard's University Center for European Studies was interviewed the other day on one of the news stations about the Italian debt crisis and he said one of the big things the Italians need to get to grips with in order to sort out their economy is the pervasive level of corruption that exists.

I know what a No Entry sign looks like and the street was not a street of historic importance by any stretch judging by the street view. Apparently access is provided to residents and emergency vehicles. It was a quite Sunday afternoon and no one was on the road at 1:00 in the outskirts of town we were driving in. What does that have to do with the fact that you drove where you weren't supposed to? Did the sign say that if it is 1 pm on a Sunday, on a street with no historical importance and there was no other traffic then it was okay? No, the sign said residents and emergency vehicles. You broke the law and got caught. Just because you don't agree with the law doesn't make it wrong. Just because you don't agree with the length of time it took them to track you down doesn't make it wrong. Just because you think it's an outrageous fine doesn't make it wrong. I just don't see the point in this whole thread. You admitted several times that you did commit the infraction. You paid the fine. What's left? Why are you trying to justify the reasons you shouldn't have had to pay? Why are you trying to convince us that, even though the sign said you shouldn't drive there, that you really didn't do anything wrong by going directly against what the sign said? What's the point? Do you want us to sympathize with you and tell you you were wronged? Please, enlighten us as to the point. Donna

Donna, I still don't believe you've read any of my posts. To reiterate, we had no idea we had committed any infraction whatsoever when we visited Florence. We wouldn't have driven down the street if we had seen the sign. Just curious do you work for the Italian Tourist Board or something?

I don't work for the ENIT either but Donna's points are valid. Her questions are valid. I'll repeat them: Why are you trying to convince us that, even though the sign said you shouldn't drive there, that you really didn't do anything wrong by going directly against what the sign said? What's the point? Do you want us to sympathize with you and tell you you were wronged? Please, enlighten us as to the point. - = - Please fill in the blanks. Thanks.

Something's up. 'It was a quite Sunday afternoon' Every ztl sign I've noticed in Florence said ztls where not in play on Sunday. Confirmed by: http://www.bella-toscana.com/traffic_violations_italy.htm which sez: 'The official instructions for Florence Non-residents are prohibited from driving and parking within the ZTL at the following times: On weekdays (Mondays through Fridays): from 7.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.
On Saturdays: from 7.30 a.m. to 6 p.m.'

Nigel, We genuinely didn't see the sign, I wouldn't have driven down the street if I had. The point of my rant is this, I think any reasonable person would be suspicious of receiving a traffic citation 12 months later (according to EMO the municipal police were in receipt of my driving license information and contact details 6 weeks after the infraction). According to EMO Italian law provides them with a 360 day window in which to notify overseas violators after the municipal police have received the drivers details. This means that the window of notification could potentially be extended ad infinitum. Some violators could be receiving notifications of infractions way into the future. I am not saying this is wrong just astonishing. I've paid the fine, but just feel they need to do something to speed up the process in which drivers are notified and to consider given the high number of traffic citations they issue (which on a per capita basis is probably the highest in the world) that something also needs to be done to better notify and educate visiting drivers of these no drive zones. Obviously what they are doing at the moment to warn drivers isn't working given the monstrously large number of citations being issued annually. End of rant.

CR - I'm not sure I agree with your rant, but this thread is helpful for many to understand camera enforcement in Italy and various ramifications. We get lots of questions about it. I assume you got a charge on your credit card from your rental agency shortly after your trip. That was to supply the city with your contact information. That is a person's main clue that a fine will be forthcoming. It is a little crazy that the fine doesn't come for 6-12 months, but it doesn't make it less legitimate or worth ignoring. As you note, Italian law gives cities up to 12 months to issue the fine. I'm still confused about whether you knew you did something wrong or not. You said you didn't know at the time but can describe the street and day perfectly. Maybe you looked at the camera proof and later realized it. But then I'm not sure why you didn't do that when you first got the fine instead of assuming it was a fraud. The violation occured on a street restricting traffic. That sounds like the definition of a ZTL to me. ZTL's don't have to be for center cities or pedestrian zones only. Many, like you, have wondered if Italian camera fines are legit. You are probably not the first to ignore them, but learned the hard way the such fines are legit and must be paid. It is what we advise here. Italy is certainly known for a level of corruption and lethargy, but you chose to act on that stereotype rather than investigate the authenticity of the notice. Another lesson learned. Camera enforcement is relatively new in the US. So it's understandable most of us are not used to it. But it's been used for at least 20 years in Europe and very common in Italy. The cameras catch every violation, hence the high numbers of fines issued.

Douglas, I can only describe the street now because EMO sent me a Google view of the street we drove down. As I said earlier if I had seen the No Entry sign I wouldn't have driven down the street. The car rental company dinged my card 6 months after our trip without any kind of written notification apart from the charge that appeared on my credit card statement. When I contacted them they told me we had committed some traffic violation but weren't specific. I told them to refund the charge because we hadn't received any notification from the authorities that we had committed an offence. In fact after that we tried to contact the authorities because we were a little suspicious but didn't get a response. According to EMO the car rental company was notified of the infraction by the municipal police sometime between Aug 8th and Sept 21st 2009. We received notification from EMO 6 months after after my credit card was dinged by the car rental company - so more than 12 months after our visit. The municipal police were in receipt of our contact details on Sept 21st 2009, 6 weeks after the infraction. If we had received notification in a much more reasonable time frame the notice would have been more believable and this would have been paid for long ago. As I said earlier - end of rant.

Rant aside this posting has been extremely helpful for how to handle the Florence traffic ticket. Had CR been on this site earlier he might have had a better understanding of the procedures since the year old ticket is perpetually discussed here. In prior discussions one poster has strongly advocated not paying since, "what can they do?" Prior to CR's posting no one had any first hand experience with what might happen if you don't pay. Now we know that at least one time a collection agency was used. Notice that the "do nothing poster" is absent from this discussion. I have tagged this one so we can reference it in the future. Sorry about your experience but it will be helpful for future discussions.

I for one have found this posting extremely helpful. As pointed out, now we know what can happen if someone doesn't pay one of these tickets. CR, thanks for bringing that to this board's attention.

CR I appreciate the clarification. I wasn't implying that you were trying to get away with anything, just was confused about why you'd thought the notice was bogus. I agree that getting it so long after the fact would have raised some red flags. I do think you provide a good reminder to all that when renting a car in Italy (or really anywhere for that matter) there is an implied agreement to the traffic rules and regs of the localities involved whether or not you understand those rules. I'm assuming that the ticking agency tracked you down through the rental agency. Did you contact them when you got the first notice? Again, not point a finger, but rather trying to get you to elaborate on the processes you used to vette the ticket to help others with the same problem.

Wow, we received a ticket from driving in a restricted area in Orvietto a little over a year after our trip. We paid it, sounds like its a good thing we did! In our case hubby is just too nice on the road and let the traffic push us past the parking lot entrance I was trying to get him to turn into. We ended up in the main part of town. Now we could argue that the town was not crowded that day so it shouldn't apply, but we just paid it. I for one do not think tourists are targeted by this practice. The same rules apply to all the cars. It won't stop us from driving in Tuscany in the future either but Marc said he will be more aggressive about turning when I tell him to in the future!

I got a couple of those EMO letters once. :]