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DRIVING

Reader question: Can I drive a friend or relative’s car in Italy?

If you're visiting or staying in Italy for any length of time and are planning on doing some travelling, a generous neighbour or relative might offer you access to their vehicle. But what does the law say about driving someone else's car in Italy?

Published: 31 May 2024 15:45 CEST
Reader question: Can I drive a friend or relative's car in Italy?
What are the rules on driving someone else's car in Italy? Photo by Maksym Potapenko on Unsplash

Question: We live in Canada but also own a home in northern Italy. Our Italian relatives often tell us that we can use their cars any time, but we are afraid in case of an accident or damage.

Could we as non-residents be added to their car insurance as an extra driver?

In Italy, car insurance covers the vehicle rather than the driver, meaning that in principle anyone with a valid driving licence (including foreign licences recognised by Italy) can drive someone else’s car with their permission.

There are, however, some restrictions that it’s important to be aware of before jumping in your great aunt’s Fiat 500 and puttering off down the Amalfi coast.

Italy’s Codice della Strada, or Highway Code, says that if you’re driving someone else’s car for more than 30 consecutive days, they should notify the Civil Motorization Office (l’Ufficio di Motorizazzione Civile) to add your name to the vehicle registration certificate.

Though it’s arguably hard to prove that someone’s violated this rule, failing to follow it could get you stuck with a fine of between €727 to €3,629, so it’s worth abiding by.

All cars in Italy must have third-party insurance, known as Responsabilità civile autoveicoli or RC Auto, which covers any bodily harm or property damage caused by the driver to other people, including the driver’s own passengers.

READ ALSO: MAP: Where in Italy is car insurance cheapest – and most expensive?

Car insurance costs are high in Italy, and one way to get a lower premium is to buy insurance that only covers certain categories of drivers (e.g., those above the age of 26, or who’ve held a licence for a certain number of years) – so it’s important to check that you’re covered under the owner’s insurance.

If you’re worried about the risk to yourself or your friend’s vehicle, you’ll want to check that they have additional insurance on top of RC Auto, such as a polizza Infortuni conducente (driver accident coverage) or polizza cristalli (broken window coverage) – or see how much it would cost to add these on.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How to pay Italian traffic fines from abroad

There are also restrictions on the type of vehicle a newly-qualified driver is allowed to drive in Italy, so if you haven’t had your licence for long, you’ll want to make sure it’s valid for the specific car you’re planning on borrowing.

Bear in mind that if you’re visiting Italy as a tourist and have a non-EU/EEA licence, you’ll need to apply for an International Driving Permit or get your licence officially translated for it to be valid.

And if you’re in Italy for more than 12 months, you’ll either need to apply to get your foreign licence converted (if your country has a reciprocal agreement with Italy), or pass an Italian driving test.

If you’ve considered all of these factors and still think it’s a good idea, borrowing a friend or relative’s car can be a cost-effective and convenient way to explore Italy without having to fork over hefty rental fees or risk getting stung with hidden costs.

Just make sure to familiarise yourself with some of the idiosyncrasies of Italian driving culture before setting off.

Member comments

  1. On the subject of insurance, if you sell a car, does anyone know for how long does your “no claims bonus” lasts? Thank you.

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For members

DRIVING

Will new rules cut the number of speed cameras on Italy’s roads?

Italy has more speed cameras than any other European country - but will an incoming rule change reduce the number or change the way they are used?

Published: 28 May 2024 15:24 CEST
Will new rules cut the number of speed cameras on Italy's roads?

Driving in Italy can be a hair-raising experience, particularly for visitors unused to the usual Italian driving style and speed – so it may be surprising to hear that Italian roads are actually the most heavily speed-regulated in Europe.

Italy has more speed cameras than any other European country with 11,130 autovelox devices lining the country’s roads and motorways, according to a report from Italian consumer association Codacons.

This far exceeds the number in Germany, with around 4,700, France (3,780), and the UK (7,700).

EXPLAINED: How to pay Italian traffic fines from abroad

In fact, Codacons says ten percent of all speed cameras in the world were found in Italy alone, and that the only countries with more cameras are much larger – Russia (18,414), and Brazil (17,614).

Italy’s many speed traps are unsurprisingly unpopular with motorists, and politicians often capitalise on this sentiment by railing against their apparent overuse – though the number continues to rise regardless.

Now however, the government has published new rules regulating the use of speed cameras, drawn up Transport Minister and populist League party leader Matteo Salvini.

Salvini – a vocal critic of speed-reduction measures in various forms – has long claimed that the cameras are widely misused. Ahead of the publication of the new rules on their use on Tuesday, he said local authorities place cameras “everywhere just to harass workers and motorists” and insisted they should only be used on “roads where the risk is higher”.

Codacons too accuses some local authorities of placing an unnecessarily high number of speed traps purely to raise revenue, though stresses that penalties for dangerous driving should be tougher.

Public opinion on the proliferation of speed cameras was divided earlier this year when a mysterious vigilante, dubbed ‘Fleximan’ by the Italian press, dismantled and damaged dozens of speed traps in northern Italy.

While some hailed Fleximan as a hero fighting a state-sponsored “racket” to raise funds, others said the campaign was nothing but vandalism and warned that removing speed cameras could cost lives.

READ ALSO: How can you lose your driving licence in Italy?

So will the new rules from Salvini’s ministry actually reduce the number of cameras on Italian roads, or otherwise change the way they are used?

The newly-published decree essentially says that local councils will no longer have the power to decide where to place speed cameras – this will now be up to prefectures in each province instead, according to Italian media reports.

The prefecture will have to follow new rules from the transport ministry, which stipulate new minimum distances between cameras depending on the type of road, and ban the installation of new speed cameras on roads with a 50-kilometre speed limit or lower.

The rules are also set to make it easier for motorists to dispute speeding fines.

Local councils will have 12 months to adapt their existing cameras to meet the new regulations, which are set to come into force within 15 days.

While the new measures could limit the number of speed cameras installed in future, they don’t say anything about removing existing speed traps and appear instead to be aimed at tackling – or appearing to tackle – the issue of local authorities allegedly using them to raise revenue.

READ ALSO: ‘Città 30’: Which Italian cities will bring in new speed limits?

The 20 largest cities in Italy collected a total of nearly 76 million euros from speeding fines in 2022 – up by 61.7 percent compared to the previous year, according to Codacons.

Smaller towns are more often criticised for installing too many speed cameras: the local councils that issue the most sanctions are those with fewer than ten thousand inhabitants, according to a study last year by financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.

For larger cities however, data suggests that speeding fines aren’t such a major source of revenue. Milan and Rome issue fewer fines for speeding than for any other type of driving offence, Il Sole 24 Ore found.

While Milan received 13 million euros from speeding tickets in 2022, 138.5 million was paid in fines for other infringements of the road rules. In Rome, the figure was four million compared to 127 million.

There’s also the question of how many fines are actually paid: in Milan, 65 percent of speeding fines were paid in 2022, while in Naples the figure was just two percent.

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