Parking tickets - Warning about Trento area, maybe whole Italy

[siraulu]

Last summer I was riding around Trento and also visited Molveno.

There I parked my bike, paid it of course. After an hour when I came back, there was a parking ticket, bike was parked in area taht was for cars. Area for bikes were somewhere else.
OK, that was my mistake. I saw the police and after "relaxing" discussion, I paid the fine. I also requested signature to the ticket and also got it.

Yesterday, I got a registerd letter from Italy. Yes, I have not paid the fine.

Now, with help of Copilot, I wrote an appeal which must be in Italy. Copilot made very polite version, my own wouldn't been polite at all. Perhaps better this way.
Let's see what happens next. I certainly won't pay it again. Perhaps I'll be in jail if I ever go to Italy again (very unlikely).

Copilot also knew that this is quite common in small Italian villages.

So,
DO NOT PAY DIRECTLY TO POLICE, no matter how busy you are.

======

I have edited the title of your post, to include the words ‘Parking tickets’

Richard

 

[TIJ650]

Parking tickets on the continent are souvenirs, nothing else

 

[er-minio]

Perhaps I'll be in jail if I ever go to Italy again (very unlikely)

No, this won't happen for unpaid parking fines or minor offences. They would just try to collect the debt via mail.
I am not aware of the possibility to pay directly a fine with the police (whatever division) in Italy. But I might be wrong.

Also: was that actual police or traffic wardens?

If you have the fine (verbale) serial number directly and a genuine receipt you should be fine. Hopefully it wasn't a scam.

You also are normally allowed to park (paid for) a bike on "strisce blu" (blue stripes bays) that are paid parking. Again, this might vary slightly by region.

 

[siraulu]

No, this won't happen for unpaid parking fines or minor offences. They would just try to collect the debt via mail.
I am not aware of the possibility to pay directly a fine with the police (whatever division) in Italy. But I might be wrong.

Also: was that actual police or traffic wardens?

If you have the fine (verbale) serial number directly and a genuine receipt you should be fine. Hopefully it wasn't a scam.

You also are normally allowed to park (paid for) a bike on "strisce blu" (blue stripes bays) that are paid parking. Again, this might vary slightly by region.

No, it was not a scam. I have a link to some italian system and there is a photo of my bike. And I have the verbale serialnumber.
In the letter there was instruction how to pay I will not do it .

Was it a police or traffic warden, I'm not sure. Perhaps warden...

 

[siraulu]

Parking tickets on the continent are souvenirs, nothing else

Paid parking tickets yes, but as this is both paid and not paid...

 

[er-minio]

In the letter there was instruction how to pay I will not do it .

By all means do not pay it and send the appeal.


There might be a small chance that the fine was legitimate, but the payment you did to the person wasn't.

 

[TIJ650]

I was actually meaning both. Even the cop that scoffed your cash knew this too.

 

[wessie]

Paid parking tickets yes, but as this is both paid and not paid...

Schrödinger's ticket

 

[timeandtide]

Schrödinger's ticket

Witty!

 

[er-minio]

I asked, doesn't seem you can pay in person with the warden.
I'd suspect you've been scammed on the payment, the fine should be genuine (since you also got the letter).

Still send the appeal with all the receipts. The only thing I can think of is that they might have different rules for foreign vehicles, but I doubt they do carry a payment machine just for that?

 

[TIJ650]

I’ve always followed the general guidelines that if you’ve fucked up bad enough, the cops will generally want payment at the scene of the crime or they’re taking you to jail. Otherwise all minor indiscretions are commuted at Dover?! lol
Worked for me anyway

 

[TIJ650]

……….consider it a rebate for all the other tourist ripoffs! Same rules with Euro plates in UK

 

[er-minio]

if you’ve fucked up bad enough, the cops will generally want payment at the scene of the crime

Yep apparently this is the case. I was wrong above.
Checked, out of curiosity, and if it is a foreign vehicle there is the possibility to pay straight away. I didn't know. Had a couple of parking tickets with my UK-plated cars and paid them online (that is even more of a ball-ache in some cases).

(Link in Italian)

Articolo 207 - CdS

It is considered like a deposit/bail and they have to indicate it on the documentation and has to match the full amount required by the fine (discounts applied for early payments).

This leads to the scenario where the deposit could be less than the actual fine (why would they allow this - no idea ) but maybe what happened is that they just didn't match the payment with the fine... that wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

 

[Wapping]

My parents paid a parking fine in Italy, relating to their French registered car. They went along to (I think) something like a police station to pay it. I only remember because my father did quite a good impression of the amazement of the Italian officer behind the desk, amazed that someone had come to pay.

 

[TIJ650]

My parents paid a parking fine in Italy, relating to their French registered car. They went along to (I think) something like a police station to pay it. I only remember because my father did quite a good impression of the amazement of the Italian officer behind the desk, amazed that someone had come to pay.

That would’ve been my reaction too.
I remember a friend years ago used to use an expired card at the tolls too. This was before the electronic payments were instantaneous. Another story for another day.

 

[wessie]

This leads to the scenario where the deposit could be less than the actual fine (why would they allow this - no idea ) but maybe what happened is that they just didn't match the payment with the fine... that wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

the Swiss do this if you are speeding above fixed penalty level, or in the case of my friends, crossing the white line to overtake a copper on his way to the border point with Austria, west of Landeck. He phoned his mates at the border to stop the miscreants.

plod take the minimum fine and you fill in a load of forms about your income. Then a judge decides the fine based on your income and sends you an bill for the balance.

 

[TIJ650]

the Swiss do this if you are speeding above fixed penalty level, or in the case of my friends, crossing the white line to overtake a copper on his way to the border point with Austria, west of Landeck. He phoned his mates at the border to stop the miscreants.

plod take the minimum fine and you fill in a load of forms about your income. Then a judge decides the fine based on your income and sends you a bill for the balance.

To be fair, I don’t fuck with the Swiss!! lol

 

[er-minio]

the Swiss do this if you are speeding above fixed penalty level

Yep, this is notorious.
The Swiss are anal retentive about speeding, much less about fire safety, as it seems

I wasn't aware there was this option for foreign vehicles in Italy.
Paying "in situ" when fined as an Italian citizen, is a big no-no instead.

To be fair, I still would not do it and wait for the fine to reach me in the UK. Most times takes up to one year, some towns might be more proactive.
I once got a speeding fine (GS) from Orbetello and found it in my mailbox upon my return to the UK. Thankfully it was easily paid via a bank transfer.

 

[Wapping]

As a reverse of a policeman saying “I am amazed someone has come to pay”.

A friend of mine when skiing, found a nice gent’s Breitling watch on the slopes, the strap having broken. Being an honest fellow and recognising it was probably worth at least a couple of thousand, he went to the town police station to hand it in. The policeman told him to keep it. Asking why, the officer explained that on most days, holiday makers came in to report ‘lost’ items, the vast majority of which were (in his seasoned opinion) fraudulent to claim under Travel insurance. He went on, that given the number of assorted valuables ‘lost’ in a season, the slopes and streets should be littered with valuables, but they are not. In short, he was bored handing out ‘I have reported the loss to the police’ tickets and wasn’t about to hunt for a possible owner of a lost Breitling.

Happy days.

 

[TIJ650]

As a reverse of a policeman saying “I am amazed someone has come to pay”.

A friend of mine when skiing, found a nice gent’s Breitling watch on the slopes, the strap having broken. Being an honest fellow and recognising it was probably worth at least a couple of thousand, he went to the town police station to hand it in. The policeman told him to keep it. Asking why, the officer explained that on most days, holiday makers came in to report ‘lost’ items, the vast majority of which were (in his seasoned opinion) fraudulent to claim under Travel insurance. He went on, that given the number of assorted valuables ‘lost’ in a season, the slopes and streets should be littered with valuables, but they are not. In short, he was bored handing out ‘I have reported the loss to the police’ tickets and wasn’t about to hunt for a possible owner of a lost Breitling.

Happy days.

I’ve also heard a pub woe about a dodgy c*nt reporting his Submariner the same way…………..and his son having the cops at door couple years later when he sent same Rolex away to get serviced?! doh