Rental Car Traffic Fine

Lazarus

Lazarus

Retired Moderator
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Just got a notification from the Car Hire folk we used when on holiday in Italy in June this year that they've jobbed us to plod re. some as yet unspecified offence the day we went to the Gulf of Poets.

I try not to speed, though it could be that, but I suspect when plod contacts me direct it'll likely be for entering a traffic free zone.

Can't imagine the fine will be much, but the Car Hire lot want Eur 49 for Admin.

Cheeky sods.

Mind you, they never did discover the damage to the underside of the front bumper!

First traffic offence for thirty eight years, so can't complain, I suppose.
 
And they don' t hang about ...... Hire Co. Admin Charge of £43.62 already shown as pending on my Mastercard account.
 
Ask for the original paperwork (not a copy) along with the images if they exist of the offence.

WIth a date and time you might be able to confirm that it occurred during the time that you were the hire driver, and not a scam.
 
It's not a scam, as the Hire Company have quoted a place, date and time that fit with me wondering if the large clutch of cameras pointing my way at a junction had clocked me .....

And the Car Hire company would have no independent way of checking where I was at any given dtg unless I was caught by "Authority".

Plus, I've read up on the current rules and the enforcement strategy and procedure, and all the gripes on Trip Advisor (sic.) etc. and have no doubt whatsoever that it's legit. (Or should that be "leg it"?)

Anyway, the paperwork for the fine itself, when it finally arrives in my letterbox, should contain login details for the collection agency and a link to the photographic evidence.

Sadly the system is quite comprehensive these days.

Good earner for the Hire Cos, though but. £40+ for receiving a notification, checking a database and providing details. It seems I got away lightly as some Hire Cos charge up to 100 Sovs.


And the final total won't be anywhere near the charge they'd have levied in respect of the damaged front bumper, had they not been in such a hurry to get the returned car ready for the next client!

Happy days ..... sort of.
 
Our friends are hiring as they normally do when we go on Monday, but thanks for the heads up I will warn them about this trend
 
Yes, do.

It's actually a pan-European regime designed to stop visitors "getting away with it".

Guess which country is worst at collecting penalties?


At the end of the day, I'm sanguine about this as I must have violated French, Spanish and Italian traffic codes umpteen times over the past twenty years and caused all sorts of tyre, bumper and roof damage to rented vehicles.

Yes, roof: We discovered some gentle ripples in the roof of one car and witnesses said a group of drunken French students had literally walked over it!
 
I've heard of this pan-European collection system and am waiting with bated breath. We passed through a short 70 Km/h section yesterday at 90 when I didn't notice the change and was flashed. Honestly, it was so short and of no real benefit except as a revenue stream.
 
Well I didn't realise just how long they've got to notify you, so had put my incident out of my mind. It occurred on 14 June.

The next thing to be aware of is to pay the Fine promptly, even if you wish to Appeal, otherwise the Fine will double. The unwary (ie most of us) are inclined to be dilatory in paying and it isn't a good tactic!

At least (I assume) you were in your own car, so won't have an Admin Fee to pay to a Hire Company. Mind you, I don't know if DVLA charge .... assuming they will have a role to play in your case, if it comes to anything.
 
Lazarus said:
Yes, do.

It's actually a pan-European regime designed to stop visitors "getting away with it".

Guess which country is worst at collecting penalties?


At the end of the day, I'm sanguine about this as I must have violated French, Spanish and Italian traffic codes umpteen times over the past twenty years and caused all sorts of tyre, bumper and roof damage to rented vehicles.

Yes, roof: We discovered some gentle ripples in the roof of one car and witnesses said a group of drunken French students had literally walked over it!
Click to expand...


Yes in Israel in the eighties we parked up at Ein Geddi car park, dug out of the mountain and returned to find the car roof completely dented in and rippled plus the bonnet open, it transpired that a group of nubian ibex had come down the mountain and used the cars as stepping stones.
 
Well that knocks tipsy frogs into a cocked hat!
 
The Official Document from the Comune di Ameglia arrived on Monday.

Euro 101.30.

Bang to rights entering a Restricted Area without Authorisation.

Paid up.
 
Lazarus said:
The Official Document from the Comune di Ameglia arrived on Monday.
Euro 101.30.
Bang to rights entering a Restricted Area without Authorisation.
Paid up.
Click to expand...
Happened to me in 2015 - I couldn't find my way out of a town in Tuscany (Pistoia I believe). There were few roadsigns and I'd managed to leave the GPS at security control at Geneva airport. Having circled the town 3 or 4 times I gave up and went through the "buses only" section.

6 months later I got the notification from the hire company that I'd been pinged *twice*, so they sent me one notification (that one) and another for somebody else who'd been pinged the same day, albeit for speeding. They never did managed to get me the second one correctly, or acknowledge that they'd made a mistake so I'm not sure the second one ever existed (it's been 18 months since the visit, anyway, and still nothing).

A month later I got the fine from the local police, registered post to my French address - pay within 5 days and it was "only" 83EUR. I received it on the Saturday, the payment left my bank account on the Monday and I haven't heard anything since.

I was worried I'd been pinged in the centre of Florence, circling and trying to find the signed car park. These car parks have numberplate readers so that if you park in one of them for an hour then you don't get fined for entering the controlled traffic zones in the centre of Florence. The way that Florence is laid out you can enter and leave these zones many times getting from A to B, so I was worried that I'd have X x 83EUR fines coming my way :). At the time I was blindly following the P signs..... Next time I'll park well outside the town centre :)

Edit: the communal police website where I was supposed to be able to see the photo of the hire car committing its deadly crime wasn't working when I tried to check :)
 
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PaulR said:
I've heard of this pan-European collection system and am waiting with bated breath. We passed through a short 70 Km/h section yesterday at 90 when I didn't notice the change and was flashed. Honestly, it was so short and of no real benefit except as a revenue stream.
Click to expand...
Haven't heard anything yet. Still bating my breath.
 
@hairybadger


Yes, my Notification allowed a reduced payment of Eur 79 for payment within five days, but it was sent by Registered Post dated 3 Jan and arrived on the 9th.

So, for the sake of getting rid of it and restoring peace of mind, I coughed the lot.

If you don't pay within 60 days, the Fine nearly doubles!
 
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