Traffic violations in Europe

I can totally relate as those signs are mostly impossible to spot or buried amongst a plethora of other signage...luckily I've never been caught myself but you have to be on guard constantly...

Anyways, I tried to find something about it and this website seems to offer some good infos regarding Florence.
If your hotel is in one of the zones they could and should give your plate combination to the authorities to grant you free entrance...so if your hotel was in the zone and they offered your their parking I think you have good reason to complain to them about not putting your plate through. If it makes any difference I wouldn't know.

And the tickets will only be sent to the rental car agency, you won't get a ticket sent to your address.

Glad you had a good holiday otherwise!
 
LeVeL;n3552210 said:
Can we hold the hotel in Florence liable for telling us to park there?
Click to expand...

Only if you can prove that they told you to park specifically where it was prohibited, and you have not misinterpreted or chosen the spot right next to the legal one.

Unless you have recorded the conversation, that would be impossible, I guess.

EDIT

Also, Beni's advice is nice. If your hotel was in the restricted area, they have (if they don't they haven't requested the permission from local authorities) the means to grant you access to it (all the parking regulations still apply, though), so if you requested it and they didn't do it, you may hope to have the hotel management pay -that- single fine for you for commercial reasons.
 
Last edited:
LeVeL;n3552265 said:
Thanks for the link! The hotel was right in the restricted zone and the owner came in the car with me to show me how to get into the courtyard (and specific parking spot) behind the building.
Click to expand...

This also has to do with the date of the violation, if it was during your stay at the hotel or not. Limited access for tourists are restricted to the dates of the stay. You should also check if the path the owner showed you was inside the area or not; sometimes they specifically show you a way around the limited access area to avoid problems, so you might have had your ticket elsewhere.

Of course this applies to Florence; if your ticket was issued somewhere else, it depends on that specific city/town.

The important part now is to define when and where you got the tickets. Once you know that, you can check to see if it's your fault or someone else's
 
I'm somewhat concerned about our trip to Verona and Malcesine next month. Thanks to this thread I deliberately avoided several Italian based outfits whose customers reported appalling experiences on TrustPilot and instead booked with Enterprise......

.... only to discover that Enterprise bookings are managed locally by LocAuto! :mad:

I will be taking detailed photos of the rental on pick up and drop off and making sure every damn stone chip is marked on the forms before I leave and when I return as well as sticking strictly to speed limits and making sure I park legally.
 
While technically not a violation I was reminded of this thread when I got the Norwegian toll bill this week...

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/2QPD7Yp.jpg"}[/IMG2]

Detailed images of every incident they want money for :clap: easily viewable online :thumbsup:
 
Last edited:
avanti;n3552893 said:
Europecar and Maggiore have always worked perfectly for me. I obviously get the extra insurance, so any damage is irrelevant, definitely worth it, considering how people park here..
Click to expand...
When I returned the Skoda to LocAuto, the guy checking the car immediately uncovered all sorts of little scratches. He wasn't very happy when I smiled and told him that I bought full coverage and couldn't care less what he finds.
 
avanti;n3552893 said:
Europecar and Maggiore have always worked perfectly for me. I obviously get the extra insurance, so any damage is irrelevant, definitely worth it, considering how people park here..
Click to expand...

i.e. sports package.
 
MWF;n3552886 said:
I will be taking detailed photos of the rental on pick up and drop off and making sure every damn stone chip is marked on the forms before I leave and when I return as well as sticking strictly to speed limits and making sure I park legally.
Click to expand...

On the last two ones, you definitely should, particularly the parking bit.

On the scratches part, I would follow Avanti's example: buy full coverage and smile as if your grin was a raised middle finger (or middle and index, considering your britishness).

The fact is, I can personally spot microscratches on paint by just look at it carefully, and so can the autorental clerk. How much time and effort are you willing to put in the effort of covering yourself from someone who -does- want to find scratches on the car? Plus, it is more than easy that someone will park into you in some way or another (even just by carelessly opening the door), particularly in narrow and overcrowded cities or villages (and Lake Garda is waaaay overcrowded and narrow).

You take the full damage coverage, then you can Clarksonically destroy the car and not paying a dime more (although, that will be the last time you'll ever rent a car with them).
 
SirEdward;n3552920 said:
On the scratches part, I would follow Avanti's example: buy full coverage and smile as if your grin was a raised middle finger (or middle and index, considering your britishness).
Click to expand...
Its the first rule of car renting, because even if you are the most careful driver in the world you can't control if someone else scratches your car, as mentioned above. Doesn't cost much anyways.
 
SirEdward;n3552920 said:
On the last two ones, you definitely should, particularly the parking bit.

On the scratches part, I would follow Avanti's example: buy full coverage and smile as if your grin was a raised middle finger (or middle and index, considering your britishness).

The fact is, I can personally spot microscratches on paint by just look at it carefully, and so can the autorental clerk. How much time and effort are you willing to put in the effort of covering yourself from someone who -does- want to find scratches on the car? Plus, it is more than easy that someone will park into you in some way or another (even just by carelessly opening the door), particularly in narrow and overcrowded cities or villages (and Lake Garda is waaaay overcrowded and narrow).

You take the full damage coverage, then you can Clarksonically destroy the car and not paying a dime more (although, that will be the last time you'll ever rent a car with them).
Click to expand...

Well since I work in vehicle salvage I'm pretty adept at spotting damage but I take your point. They will be looking for something and I have no doubt they will find something but I'm going to give them minimal opportunities. I'm more concerned about phoney traffic violations than anything else.
 
So far I've never paid for extra no-deductible cover, and haven't had major issues in dozens of non-business rentals. I only once got charged 30€ for swapping my car with a flat tyre by Europcar, the relevant insurance package would have been way more :dunno:
Looking at my next rental there's an 800€ deductible, which I could drop to zero for collisions, tyres, windshield, headlights (specifically excluding vandalism) for about 130€ for the week. If I buy the insurance and there's small damage I'm still paying more, so there would have to be expensive covered damage, say half the deductible, for the insurance to make sense... I don't expect a 33% chance for expensive damage, so I'm not buying the insurance. But then I don't rent from places where you have to expect to get shafted :no:
 
Last edited:
Damn. I rented a Yarse from Locauto in Milan without any issue and it sounds like I got lucky. They charged a butt-ton for fuel since I didn't have time to fill it up beforehand, but I drove that thing like, ha, the locals.
 
MWF;n3552938 said:
I'm more concerned about phoney traffic violations than anything else.
Click to expand...

Double check the limits and access limitations; in my experience the problems are with overcomplicated, overimplemented rules implemented by overzealous agents. Stick to the limits (I know, it might not be easy) and to the indications and you should be fine. When in doubt, double check. Many people got their fine canceled because speed limits weren't shown, no-parking signals were not properly indicated, etc. Beureaucracy works both way, so things are -always- written on some panels in the place mandated by law; problem is, this doesn't necessarily means they are perfectly visible and easy to understand. But they are there. Generally, a minimum of common sense should be enough: if you see paking lines, for examples, it means there are no parking spaces available outside of the lines, even if the locals do differently. unless you are willing to risk a parking ticket, like they probably do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top