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We got a ticket for falling into de Piazza di Spagna fointain, now what?

Hi everyone! So my husband fell into the water fountain in Piazza di Spagna in Rome. It was accidental as it was slippery and he was trying to help our daughter get some water. The carabinieri jumped in to drag him out within a millisecond and didn't accept any possible explanations. We were fined over 500 euros! after a looong wait while they wrote the report. It was a pretty bad experience, but to make matters worst, they handed us a paper fine and told that all the information was there to make the payment or dispute the charge, but we lost the paper :( it's been a few weeks since we got it and we put the suitcases upside down and can't find the paper and don't know how to pay or how much exactly. Does anyone here knows where we can find that information? does that fine would have an expiration day? and anything you know about getting fined in Italy. Any input is appreciated, thanks!

Posted by
6794 posts

I guess that by now, you'd have to wait for a collection agency to get you - which might never happen, but Italian traffic fines do eventually reach Americans these days so there is a risk that fine eventually reaches you. Until then, there's nothing you can do I'm afraid, since you have no trace of the infraction and probably speak no Italian to call the authorities

Posted by
4535 posts

I think balso is right, without any information from the ticket, you have no way to reach out to the authorities to pay. So it will likely come down to whether they turn it over to a collection agency, which they may well do as there have been reports of ZTL and speeding tickets sometimes going to collection. At 500 euro, it might be worth it for them to give it to a collection and worth it for the collection agency to try and collect. If that happens, you'll wind up paying far more than the original 500. I would guess it would be months or even a year before you hear anything, if ever.

Posted by
26840 posts

That's an awful penalty for losing ones balance. I'm glad the splats I've taken in Europe have been nowhere near fountains!

I'm confused, though, about what your daughter was trying to do. I hope she didn't get drinking water out of fountains like the one in the Piazza di Spagna. I don't think the water in the decorative fountains is potable. There are fountains with drinking water in Italy, but they are much smaller.

Posted by
15043 posts

Were you trying to get inside the ugly boat shaped fountain?
I know it seems an excessive fine but unfortunately a lot of tourists (especially college age, often drunk, tourists) have taken the habit of using monumental fountains as swimming pools, so the authorities had to crack down. For example the XVI century Fountain of Neptune in Florence has been damages more than once by such incidents caused by stupid kids.

Regarding your fine I doubt it will ever reach you. If sold to a collection agency with affiliates in the US they still won’t take you to court as they cannot be enforced overseas. As far as the credit bureaus are concerned, they stopped reporting debts arising from fines and citations (including those issued by US authorities) therefore all the collection agencies can do is harass you a bit until you buckle and pay them to get them off your back. If you don’t they will eventually give up. However, since I deal with collection agencies in my work, be aware of your rights (read the federal law in the FDCPA). Many collection agencies abuse such law and some are outright criminal organizations run by thugs. Don’t be afraid to threat them to sue them for violating the FDCPA if they try to harass you.

Posted by
89 posts

The water is potable in this fountain and there is a place to fill water bottles.
This is the only large decorative fountain where it is drinkable.

Posted by
32523 posts

why would the Carabinieri get involved in a fountain entry?

Posted by
196 posts

I was there in July. The police were vigilant about people sitting on the steps, but there were people literally in the fountain cooling off. I thought this was so odd. The times are changing I guess.

Posted by
4138 posts

Now I'm curious.

What information did they get from your husband to write up the fine?

Did he have to show any kind of identification?

Did either of you look at the piece of paper to see what it said before it disappeared?

Posted by
709 posts

The fountain was seriously damaged in 2015 by "Dutch Soccer Hooligans": Historic Bernini Sculpture Damaged
Restoration work had just been completed in 2014.

We stayed nearby for a week last October and saw many people drinking the water. I can imagine any of them could have easily slipped and fallen into the fountain. It seems rather extreme to punish someone for having an accidental spill.

The water comes from the Acqua Vergine, an aqueduct from 19 BCE. Bernini built the fountain to be slightly below street level due to the low water pressure from the aqueduct.

Posted by
2 posts

Hi Lo,
They asked for my husband's passport and our home address. They wrote the entire report in Italian and we have no idea what it said. The plan was to have it translated back home and figure it out from there, but now that is missing we have no guidance on how to proceed. We love Italy and want to return next year, but we are worried to get "caught" by the police with an outstanding fine and get arrested or who knows what could happen. We would go back with peace of mind knowing that we have no issues, but as some of you stated, it seems that my best case scenario is to wait for them to reach us. I bet that would be double the price, but we rather have a lot to pay now and not a bad day with the police while abroad and not speaking the language. We still can't believe that we misplaced something so important, but hopefully there will be a sensible resolution for us.

Posted by
4138 posts

Bummer! I was hoping it was some kind of scam trying to get you to go somewhere in person to pay some bogus official-looking person a wad of cash. Guess not.

Posted by
32523 posts

calling or writing to the Questura and asking?

Posted by
16028 posts

Nigel has the right idea. The police (most like the municipal[al police, not carabinieri) will have a copy of the report, and should be able to track it down by date. They could send you a scan or mail you a copy. Your inquiry about this will demonstrate your sincere effort to pay the fine.

But wasn’t there an option to pay it while still in Rome?

Posted by
3812 posts

We don't arrest people for unpaid fines in Italy, we sell their debts to international collection agencies and forget about it.

Posted by
2767 posts

I honestly don’t know. My only experience with getting a fine in Italy was a traffic ticket. The rental car company charged my credit card a fee for providing my address to the police. Then...nothing. No ticket ever arrived. This was over 2 years ago and I’ve returned to Italy multiple times since.

A suggestion for any others who find themselves in similar situations - as soon as you get an important paper (ticket in this case) take a photo of it with your phone. Make it a clear photo, zoom in and take multiple shots if needed to make it legible. That way you have all the info even if you loose the paper.

I got a parking ticket in Austria and did this. Not necessary - I paid it online the next day paper in hand, but Austria is rather more organized than Italy so it was fairly easy

Posted by
5188 posts

Great question Lola; I’ve been wondering the same thing...

But wasn’t there an option to pay it while still in Rome?

Posted by
8293 posts

We were able to pay a parking ticket in Siracusa at the post office. Asking “how to” while in Rome at a Tourist Information Office, the hotel front desk, any police station may have solved the OP’s. problem before the “paper” could go missing.

Posted by
4535 posts

Great question Lola; I’ve been wondering the same thing...
But wasn’t there an option to pay it while still in Rome?

Read the OPs post and follow ups. She said that they put it aside and planned to deal with it when they got home. But they lost it.

Posted by
286 posts

Yes but if you receive a fine in another country, in a language you don't speak, different currency... Why not pay it right there and forget about it instead of taking it home, where you will have to figure out how to pay it, deal with international bank transfer fees etc?, That on top of the risk of losing it.

Posted by
759 posts

I’d get on the phone to Rome (and a google internet search) and take a shot at tracking it down. If it hits a collection agency they WILL report it to the big 3 credit firms and your husband will take a 75-100 pt hit on his credit rating score.