The Fines Department

I received a letter yesterday from the Fines Department of Auto Europa informing me that "the Authority" had detected a traffic violation during the period we had rented one of their cars last summer while in Italy. There was no indication of exactly what the violation might have been or exactly where it might have occurred. All that can be determined from the letter and attachments is that the violation was duly recorded on September 8, 2007 by the Polizia Municipale del Comune Di Firenze at 12:55 in the afternoon. Auto Europa is billing me Eu30,00 + V.A.T. + 20% + postage for the honor of doing something the Municipal Police in Florence found offensive or, more accurately, profitability. Rental car. Bang.


In Italy, they have several kinds of police. At the lowest level are the polizia who go around the city on foot issuing citations. The Italians hate them. Then we have the local police who drive yellow cars. My guess is that my encounter was with these local police. Next come the regional police who drive fast white cars. And, finally, there are the financial police who drive green cars and the national police who drive black cars, if I recall all the colors correctly.

"Financial police?" you ask. Yes, in Italy every town has an open air market at least one day a week and a great many street "vendors" all the time. The financial police keep their eye on these folks.

So there you have it, folks. I'm now officially an Italian criminal! Only, they don't know it because they didn't actually stop the car to determine who is actually driving it. But, I know and I'm wearing this Italian traffic violation as a badge of honor.