janisj

IMDonehere: >>I have rented a car many times with just my driver's license and I can't recall the car rental facility requesting my IDP. <<

A IDP is not required to rent a car. One IS required to drive said car. The rental agencies may or may not ask for it (most don't) - but if you are stopped you'd better have it.

bvlenci

As far as the requirement to carry an official identity document, the IDP is irrelevant, because the driver's license itself is not an official identity document in Italy, for the reason I mentioned above. The IDP is really just a translation of the license, in a standard format, so it adds no validity.

However, it is required when driving in Italy. Rental companies are beginning to request it more frequently, but it has been required for at least the past 17 years or so, probably longer. As Janis says, the rental agencies haven't been very particular in the past about requesting it, but it is needed to drive here unless you have an EU license.

bvlenci

Circumstances under which you may be asked to show an identity document in Italy:

You forget to stamp your ticket on the bus, and a ticket inspector catches you red-handed.

A merchant doesn't furnish you a receipt, and the finance police catch the merchant red-handed.

You're involved in some way in a traffic accident.

You witness a crime.

You're stopped for a random document check, either driving or walking.

In the last situation, you should be sure that the person asking to see your ID is really a police officer, because there are some scams that start off like that. You're not required to show them anything other than your ID. If you're asked to show anything else, or if you're not certain the person is a police officer, ask to be accompanied to the police station.

If you don't produce ID, the law in Italy says you can be held at the police station until someone is able to bring your ID there. In reality, I doubt that would happen, but at the very least, it could wreck your plans for the day.

kybourbon

>>>I have rented a car many times with just my driver's license and I can't recall the car rental facility requesting my IDP<<<

I've been asked for my IDP when picking up a rental.

Dukey1

The OP was fortunate. One of the oldest tricks is to divert the attention of someone (that passport holder on the floor) and then as they focus on that an accomplice often picks the pocket.

dulciusexasperis

The most hilarious IDP story has to be the law passed in Florida requiring Canadian snowbirds to have an IDP. An English translation of an English language license. The law was later repealed.

https://www.caa.ca/caa-applauds-repe...orida-idp-law/

Georgia, USA fined a Quebec driver for having no IDP as his Quebec license was in French only.

https://www.google.ca/#q=georgia+fines+quebec+driver

While you can often rent a car without an IDP or if stopped, may not be fined etc. at the Police Officer's discretion, it's probably a good idea to have one just in case.

The plural of anecdote is not 'data'. While one person may have no problem another may be hassled and or fined in the same place on a different day.

For example, given the state of the economy in Greece right now, I would think the police could see it as a lucrative source of additonal income that is sorely needed. While in the past, they have not bothered to insist on it.

dulciusexasperis

I was once stopped at a random 'spot check' by police in Greece. I was driving a vehicle for which I had a Greek registration in my name; had an expired Canadian driving license; an expired IDP and expired insurance papers!

I should add, the insurance was expired simply because I thought the insurance company would notify me by mail (as they do in Canada) before it expired. In fact they do not, it is up to you to go to them and renew it. But I knew the others were expired.

Anyway, the Police Officer looked at all this and then said to me, 'Your insurance is expired you know.' Then he said, 'what would happen if you did this in Canada' and I answered, 'I'd be in big trouble'. Then he smiled and said, 'go get your insurance renewed today Mr. X' and sent me on my way.

No fine, no arrest, no impounding the vehicle, nothing. That was his Greek pride showing me how much better it was to live in Greece rather than in Canada. LOL

Hans

"We have found what we hope is a solution for where to carry our passports when we are checking out of one hotel and into another. We are putting in our luggage."

That's similar to what I do. But I put it into an envelope at the bottom of my day-pack since I can't always keep an eye on my suitcase. The same with excess cash and credit cards which I keep in a different envelope so that I don't need to take them out when I use the passport for the check in.

dwdvagamundo

I'm still going to take the chance and carry a copy of my passport because IMO the costs resulting from loss of my passport divided by the risk of losing it while on the street greatly outweigh the costs of being jailed for not having my original passport divided by the risk of having some policeman insist on the original and not allowing me to retrieve it from the hotel.

However the advice on the IDP is good. We sometimes get them, sometimes not. Guess we'll get them for our next trip. However, I've never been asked for it even though I've been stopped.

I do have a good "hangdog look" I use whenever caught out by the authorities.