140 Car Windscreen Discs

Could someone who owns an Italian registered car please let me know the status of the windscreen disc. As this disc bears the name of an Insurance Company, I have assumed that it has an Insurance function, rather than just being a tax disc as in the UK.

However, I have had to lodge a complaint with a car rental company (one of the big international rental companies) which hired me a car with an out of date disc, and their initial response is that this was a tax disc only and that the vehicle was in fact fully insured when I took possession of it.

Many thanks for any help on this.

Category
General chat about Italy

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 03/24/2005 - 05:35

yes the insuance company issues the square bit of paper you have named a disc.... it proves your insured and should be displayed at all time and also should be within date.... however the level of cover here.... third party only.... means that its all irrelevant as regards accidents.... italy having one of the highest rates reported in europe.... and unreported would take it into the stratosphere.... but yes you can get fined for not displaying the correct dated insurance disc..... and you pay your road tax seperately.... which works out pretty much the same as england..... you do pay road tolls here as well... the roads are no better than you will find in the uk....often worse...in puglia recently half of them collapsed with floods...motorways that is....and petrol now is around e1.30 a lt diesel a bit less...i dont worry.... but just to let you know that all the complaints that the cost of driving people make in the uk exist here too.... and anyone that moves here will find costs well in excess of uk costs... and road accidents something you just shouldnt bother thinking about.... you wouldnt drive anywhere

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 03/24/2005 - 14:26

Just to agree, the square piece of paper on the windscreen IS an insurance certificate (Tax discs don't exist here) and so if they said it was tax then there lying and you should take them to the cleaners.

On a secondary note about driving in Italy, when I first moved to Sardegna I had never owned a car (Lived in London and never needed one although I had passed my test when I was 18) and so had to jump in at the deep end and start driving on Italian roads with Italian drivers and on the wrong side of the road.

Believe me when I say that was one of the scariest things I have ever done. I did make a point of having 3 driving lessons here before I let myself lose on the roads in my brand new car and it was well worth it (And much cheaper then in England BTW).

Anyway touch wood I've not had an accident yet but I must say I've seen quite a few (Saw a crash where one car had actually flipped on it's roof the other day) and another thing that shocked me was the level of road kill here, seems to have calmed down recently (maybe it was a mass suicide pact before winter or something).

Anyway just to confirm Italian drivers are absolute nutters, especially if they either have a nice car (seem to think they own the road and can sit on your bumper till you move over) or a shitty moped (just don't know how to drive full stop and are more than likely illegal anyway).

Anyway rant over, enjoy the roads everyone. :)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 05/05/2005 - 16:47

Thanks to both of you who replied to my post. I have had further correspondence with Avis Car Hire, but they are still treating the issue as a fairly trivial one and insisting that I was not put at risk. In their words "the law is different for car rental companies than for ordinary drivers, in that any liability would fall on the doorstep of the car rental company and not that of the renter at the time of this offence." I am not sure that I entirely believe them, but am accepting the discount voucher I have been sent to use next time I hire a car in Italy!

Interesting to read peoples comments about motoring in general. My feeling is slightly different. I had a couple of motoring holidays in Italy in the 1970s (in my own car) and, yes, driving was far more difficult than in the UK. After a long gap, I have driven a fair distance in Italy during the last two winters (in hire cars), and I would say that, whilst driving at home has become far more stressful - due to more crowded roads, faster traffic, etc. - there is a less noticeable difference in Italy. Largely this is because of the improvements in the structure of the roads themselves - surfaces, markings, safety barriers, etc. Also, while here everyone seems to drive at or above the legal limit, rapid progress in Italy is restricted by the inevitable presence of a "furgoncino" put-putting along a rural road and holding up the traffic.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 05/05/2005 - 18:15

Interesting comments! I was working in Italy for 3 years ago, and regularly drove between Milan and Cremona...mainly motorway driving, but as I stayed in Cremona, also town driving. I managed to spend a couple of weekends in Italy, and by far the worst part of my experience was driving to Venice! When you come in from the "Southern" side, and approach the pay booths......it seems the whole world opens up, there are so many of them!....come out the other side, though, and it is just like the "Wakky Races"....the 14 or so lanes come down to 3...and immediately after, it seems that at least 2 motorways join yours, from both right and left, so it looks like 9 lanes become 3, in a VERY short space.....then you have to find the correct lane to get over to Venice!

Having said that, I managed not to have an accident at all! BUT......when they decide to do some repairs on the motorway in the evening....... watch out for the "cones" - they intersperse them with....... a sort of bonfire! a series of....how can I describe it..... a bunch of sticks burning fiercly - no flashing lamps for Italy...just build miny-bonfires in the middle of the road!!!!

Happy driving......
Roy.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 05/06/2005 - 07:00

Adriatica,

Can you tell me what the road tax is called in Italy please ? I had understood that no tax is payable but that a car over 4 years old needs an "MOT" every year, which is the boletino blu ?

Thanks from ernie

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 05/17/2005 - 23:31

Well, I just found out my car needs a doing over (like the UK MOT) every two years, it's called a provisione. The bolletino blu is a certicate of a clean emission (low level of pollution. The pollution is very bad in Rome.

Hope this helps.

e

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/21/2005 - 04:37

This is probably too late but I have just joined this site... The "road" tax in Italy is actually a property tax and, unlike in England, you pay it whether or not you use your car. It is referred to as "il bollo" and there is no requirement to display it on the windscreen, though I keep the relevant receipt under the dashboard, in case I need to produce it. What MUST be displayed however is the "tagliando" of your insurance.
MOT (revisione) must be done every year and the "bollino blu" must be affixed to the windscreen. It bears the expiry date. Exhaust emissions are checked every other year. Receipt with test results must be kept in the car. I keep a lot of stuff under my dashboard so I can produce anything if so requested. And finally you must have in your car AT ALL TIMES the triangle to set up well behind your car in case it has broken down and you are along the side of the road. Mandatory is also a fluorescent vest to wear in such cases, keep that in the car too!
Finally you must carry your driving licence with you when driving. It is the first thing the police asks for. No reprieve in producing it at a station at a later date, as is the case in UK.
Cheers
Ludo