Please sign in to post.

Traffic tickets, v. 932

We rent cars in Italy because my husband's family lives in Tuscany off transit, and he's been driving in Italy since he was a teenager. I think we've ended up with a ticket in the mail months later almost every trip. We try our best, but it does seem to happen and we realize it's part of the deal so pay them when they eventually arrive.

I'm posting about this because we just got a ticket from early May 2023 . . . 20 months later.

Yes, we paid it. (My husband is from Lucca and we will travel there until we can't.) . . but do be careful of the dates when you get these tickets. In 2017 he had a rental car in Lucca Dec 26 - 31, and 9 months later he got a ticket. But when he looked at it closer, it was for November 2017 when he was definitely at home in Canada. No doubt he did something wrong while driving in Italy (we always do), but he didn't have to pay.

Also, the tickets are in Italian. But translation is easy now.

BTW - This time, we missed a flight and arrived very late at night in Pisa, so followed the GPS to our hotel within the walls of Lucca, and it was like that episode of Top Gear when they have to try to drive out of Lucca. The whole time we were saying "we are DEFINITELY getting a ticket!" GPS doesn't help you around these areas. Anyway, it was a fun adventure squeezing our tiny car into alleyways that I thought only a bicycle could get through. We don't actually know this was the event (you never do know), but seems clear.

Posted by
16563 posts

Your husband is a Lucchese and he paid those tickets? I’m surprised. People from Lucca are famous throughout Tuscany for being the stingiest.

Posted by
8809 posts

We lived in Germany from 87-91 and drove into Italy several times and never got a ticket.
We have been back to Italy four or five times in the last 15 years and NEVER rented a car. One reason was reading so many posts on this forum complaining about getting tickets months or over a year later for several hundred euros.

Posted by
401 posts

Roberto - that's a truly funny comment. My husband's uncle is always drawing us maps with detailed instructions on where to park. . . "it says no parking, but I know that they are away this week," or "it says no parking, but they never check," etc. When we'd go to Viareggio, he'd draw us the same detailed maps of how to get to the best free beach. Honestly, we come all that way, so I don't care if I have to pay 2 euro for parking or 10 euro to go to a nice beach. But I can't say that to him.

Based on my inlaws, yes, "stingy" is an apt description