Traffic violations in Europe: Do I have to pay speeding fines, parking tickets?

A speeding fine just caught up with me. From Italy, in May 2022. It's come in a letter from the commune, the local government area, where the offence was committed, in English, notifying me of a violation of article 142,8 of the Italian traffic code. That puts the offence at somewhere between 10 and 40km/h over the speed limit, although the fine - €136.10 ($211) – suggests speeding at the lower end of that scale.

The fact that the letter comes from the commune means I tripped a speed camera while passing through the village where I was staying. The Italian authorities are tough on those who break the 50km/h speed limit which applies in urban areas, towns and villages, even though they might turn a blind eye to anyone driving 30km/h over the 130km/h speed limit on the autostrada. It's the same story in France and Germany.

Traffic authorities have ways of extracting the fine without you having any say in the matter. They can squeeze the car-hire operator for your credit card details and charge you, and that's standard practice. Electronic cameras don't always advertise their presence, and you might not even be aware you've been done for speeding until an email from your car-hire agency tells you your account has been debited. On top of the fine, this might incur an administration fee from your hire firm. When the offence happens in the EU, details might be sparse. Stringent EU privacy laws prevent government agencies from sharing information, including breaches of the law, with third parties, such as a car-hire firm.

In my case, the letter from the commune is an exception. It gave me the option to pay up or lodge an appeal. If I did neither I would be liable for the compulsory payment of 50 per cent of the maximum penalty amount and process costs. The letter doesn't specify an amount, but the current maximum penalty for a traffic violation in Italy is €9296.

I paid up. I'll be visiting Italy again and driving, and a brush with the law could get awkward, but more than that, it's the right thing to do. Breaking another country's laws and trying to dodge the consequences is just plain wrong. Besides, a small dose of pain reminds me to pay attention in future. But what if I didn't? Could the long arm of the law stretch all the way to Australia?

What happens if you don't pay?

It depends on where the offence happened, and some countries are more vigorous in pursuit of foreign lawbreakers than others. Also, what the car-hire operator's policies are. Your contract with your car-hire operator most likely says you are liable for any fines you incur, and that the operator is obliged to hand over your personal details to the authorities. That makes it easy for those authorities to charge the violation to your credit card.

There is also the nagging thought that if not paid within five days of receipt of the notice, my Italian fine would increase by almost 40 per cent. If not paid within 60 days it would escalate by 165 per cent. If I'm ever pulled over by the police in Italy there's a fair chance that any unpaid fines would show up, with interest applied over the intervening time span. Even if I don't return, that's the kind of interest rate that would make a mafiosi sit up and pay attention. There is an outside chance that a debt collection agency might acquire that fine and next thing there's someone standing at your front door walking you through a mutually acceptable repayment scheme. Declining to negotiate is clearly off the table.