AVV. FUSILLO ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS – ZTL FINES

Many subscribers to the channel often send us questions of general interest. In future, I will publish the most important ones.
It is necessary to disseminate news, information, advice and legal action strategies useful for defending ourselves in the situation we are currently experiencing. Our legal systems, once respectful of at least some fundamental freedoms, are evolving towards new forms of totalitarianism. Now more than ever, it is vital that there are defence strategies and, above all, that everyone knows what we can do to protect our rights.

Here is the first question: “What do I risk if I enter my city's ‘green’ ZTL in a so-called polluting vehicle? Can they seize my car or take the fine money directly from my bank account?”

Unfounded reports are circulating regarding the consequences of entering the new ZTLs (limited traffic zones) that are restricted to certain categories of vehicles. The rule governing the matter is Article 7, paragraph 13 of the Highway Code, which punishes unauthorised access to ZTLs with an administrative penalty (fine) ranging from 87 to 344 euros. The fine must be served on the offender directly by a police officer if you are stopped, or by registered post or certified email (PEC) if entry is recorded by camera. Alternatively, against the fine, one may lodge an appeal with the Prefect within sixty days of service, or with the Justice of the Peace within thirty days of service. The Prefect's decision (injunction order) can, in turn, be challenged before the Justice of the Peace. The Prefect must rule on the appeal within 120 days from when the documentation is received from the reporting authority. If no decision is issued, the appeal is deemed to be upheld. I will make an appeal template to the Prefect available when the fines start arriving.
Breach of the prohibition on entering a ZTL does not entail ancillary penalties; in particular, neither driving licence suspension, nor vehicle seizure, nor deduction of licence penalty points are provided for.
Administrative penalties for these violations will be collected using standard procedures for road traffic offences. There is no possibility of direct access to offenders' bank accounts.
Anyone who does not hold a bank account balance exceeding 1,509.81 euros (the garnishment threshold for 2023) and has no attachable assets risks nothing in any case. Even if they receive a great many fines, nothing can be taken from them. There is, of course, the possibility of an administrative immobilisation of the vehicle, but the older and more "polluting" it is, the less sense the procedure makes for authorities attempting to extort money from citizens. The truly powerful on earth, as the saying goes, are kings and the penniless.

The civil disobedience strategy is simple. When the new access bans come into effect, all owners of vehicles to which the driving ban applies should enter the ZTLs en masse. This will create an unmanageable workload for municipal administrations. The next step will be the mass submission of appeals to the Prefect, all sent by paper registered post to the prefecture's headquarters. Prefectures already face great difficulty managing the caseload of traffic violation appeals. Faced with a mass disobedience movement, they simply could not cope.