I got a letter in the post from the Polizi Municipal of Florence for alegedly speeding in my hire car whilst holidaying there last September. They want €181.00!

In the intervening period I've moved house, so it was delivered to my old address.

Does anyone have any experience of ignoring one of these? Will I be collared if I ever travel to Italy in future?

I'm tempted to return the letter with a 'No longer at this address' note. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Essentially you were speeding (could have knocked down someones little bambino) but because its not the UK its okay?

is this a troll?

I would be inclined to ignore it and wait for them to catch up with you, ignore the ones on here that will tell you that you are the devil incarnate for daring to speed but could not possibly advise what the fall-out may be regarding visiting Italy in the future.

OOPS TWICE-CLICK!

Tails, aren't Italian babies worth 10 points?

but because its not the UK its okay?

Where did he say it was OK?

So tails – every time you accidentally break the prevalent speed limit, do you volunteer money to the authorities because you could have killed someone? A bit like a motoring swear box?

For peace of mind just pay it, for the fun of the chase ignore it and go down the pub.

The hire company will eventually get hold of your new address. They have with me in the past anyway. Also, if they have the same system as Holland they will detain you at the airport when you go through passport control as your passport will flag up the unpaid fine. I had to pay mine immediately before they let me carry on my journey.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/got-a-speeding-ticket-in-france-anyone-else-got-one

powers, or lack of, discussed at length by people with similar experiences.

Cheers Munque-Chick, and Yetiman…

So tails – every time you accidentally break the prevalent speed limit, do you volunteer money to the authorities because you could have killed someone? A bit like a motoring swear box?

he never said it was an accident. i don't own a car. if your not caught of course you don't volunteer money. he was caught so should pay.

anyway g-force i will not try to turn your question into a argument. But having seen the state of Italian driving i reckon they could do without foreigners speeding.

Pretty much as Yetiman says, depends if you want to go back to Italy again.
Munqe-chick, a little different to that thread as that is based on being in your own car, this is a hire car and they have all your details and will keep trying to get hold of you.

A speeding fine in Italy? Do they even have those? You must've been really going for it!

Gingerbloke your right, but I'm curious as to why it the local polizei chasing the OP and not the hire company. Following an identical thread on a m/cycle forum at the mo where "we" have speculated that its in the rental T+C's that they can take fines from your credit card, but at the mo the OP is not being billed/chased by the hire company.

In short I suspect the OP is okay to do nothing if thats what they choose, and wait to see if the rental company take it up in which case it'll probably be out of the OP's hands as they'll just hit their credit card.

Italian speed cameras look very little like the ones over here they are just pillars on the motorways with some reflective backing.

Speeding in Italy is rife, yes it was a mistake by the OP but it's often difficult to tell what speed you should be doing on Italian roads and difficult to drive safely given the chaos around you.

I'd honor the fine if you everr plan to drive in Italy/Eurpoe even depending on when they start sharing this sort of data.