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Rules of Italy's roads: driver fined over €3k for pee break

The Local Italy
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Rules of Italy's roads: driver fined over €3k for pee break
A 40-year-old man has been fined for weeing at the side of the S42 main road, pictured above. Photo: Wikimedia

A 40-year-old man was slapped with a hefty fine on Monday when he stopped to urinate at the side of a main road in northern Italy.

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The man was on his way back from spending Easter Monday with friends when he stopped to empty his bladder.

He pulled over to the side of the S42 - a road which passes between the northern cities of Bolzano and Bergamo - just outside the town of Berzo Demo, in the Lombardy province of Brescia.

Unfortunately, a passing police car saw him and issued him with a huge fine for 'acts against public decency'.

Such charges used to carry possible jail sentences in Italy, but earlier this year the government passed changes to legislation which re-classified a number of misdemeanours.

“This type of act was recently decriminalized, which on the one hand means you can't be imprisoned for it, but on the other hand the fines have gone up,” a police spokesperson told La Repubblica.

This is not the only time urinating in public has cost somebody dear in Italy.

Earlier this year, school teacher Stefano Rho was sacked after the school discovered he had a criminal record for peeing in a bush 11 years ago.

After a public campaign, Rho was reinstated.

But it remains to be seen whether the motorist's fine will be reduced or overturned.
 

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