There are often debates on travel boards about, “Should I pay that ZTL violation ticket I received in Florence or Rome?” Folks wonder whether the Italian police will search you out. Well, apparently if the price is right – they will! Recently, a Florence resident was slapped with 90,000€ in traffic fines! And you thought your ZTL ticket was expensive? Here’s the story pulled from the International Business News and other sources.
“A British woman has been fined 90,000 euros, after she was traced by Italian police.
Susan Eileen Townsend, 62-year-old British resident, was photographed 1,500 times breaking speed limits and getting inside traffic restricted areas in Florence, probably to park her car close to her top-end flat in Viale Aleardo Aleardi, one of the wealthiest and most central roads in the city. Her Mercedes was British, and the registration plate was expired. Italian officers worked hard to identify the car, as they are not allowed to access registration systems in other countries. Although it is more difficult to trace speeders with foreign number plates, Townsend was photographed around 1,500 times committing these offenses. Eventually she was tracked down to her luxury apartment.
“The woman was finally identified thanks to diligent investigative work from the officers involved,” Florence traffic police officer told Metro. “Our feeling is that she thought, as she had a British number plate, there was no chance of her being traced but she was proved very wrong.”
I understand from our fines department that she has called in a lawyer to help her but the law is clear here and the highway code was broken so she will have to pay – although I’m sure we would probably come to some agreement to settle the fines in installments.
In Britain, The Daily Mail reports that foreign drivers are said to get away with not paying more than 180,000 speeding and parking fines every year – with foreign diplomats being the worst offenders. The estimated amount loss totals around £10 million as the time and cost to British police forces makes it not worth the effort to track the guilty drivers down.”
So it will be interesting to see how this story develops and exactly how much Ms. Townsend will actually have to pay. Obviously her driving days (legally anyway) are probably fairly limited now. Her resident status may be impacted, as well as her bank account. Certainly as a resident of Florence she knew she was breaking the ZTL rules, the speed limits, and the car registration policy. She did get by for four years but now this will be an expensive settlement. Perhaps we’ll soon see an apartment on Viale Aleardo Aleardi for sale…
A good guidebook can be an incredible resource in your planning and preparation. And once in Italy, it can help you know what your looking at! Above are a few guidebooks on Italy. For USA guests, see more guidebooks at our Travel Store, or look in amazon.com. Non-USA Guests can search for Italy guidebooks at amazon.co.uk.
A good guidebook can be an incredible resource in your planning and preparation. And once in Italy, it can help you know what your looking at! Above are a few guidebooks on Italy. For USA guests, see more guidebooks at our Travel Store, or look in amazon.com. Non-USA Guests can search for Italy guidebooks at amazon.co.uk.
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Header: Ponte Vecchio – Photo from the International Business News
