The legal age to drive in Italy is 18 years old, while 14-year-olds are permitted to drive a moped of motorcycle of 50cc up to a maximum speed of 45km/h.

Italian car rental companies do not rent to individuals under the age of 21 years of age.

In accordance with Italian law, if a resident of a Non-EU country such as the US or New Zealand violates a traffic law, the offender must pay the fine in the moment when it is issued. Failure to pay immediately may result in the police confiscating the vehicle.

International Driving Licenses

If one is coming to Italy with a Non-EU driving license, it would be advantageous to obtain an IND (International Driver’s License) before arriving. This can serve as an additional means of proof of identity and can be requested when renting a car.

NB: An IND is not a driving license – drivers must always keep with them their national, state-issued, or province or territory-issued driving license.

Permanent Residents (EU and Non-EU)

The US, Canada, and Australia do not have a national-issued license. Instead, each state, territory, or province issues its own license and Italy, more often than not, does not have an agreement with countries that issue their licenses at a local level.

In Italy, a license from a country, state, province, or territory with which Italy does not have a reciprocal agreement, is valid for one year from the time you request Italian residency.

Before the window of one year expires, if you wish to continue driving in Italy legally, you will need to take the Italian driving test. Unfortunately, this is only available in Italian (French and German are also available if you live in the Italian regions where these are official languages).

EU driving licenses can either be exchanged or validated at the Motor Vehicle Department (Motorizzazione) or a driving school – this is case-specific and needs to be looked at further.