Rome, 21 June 2024 – High summer temperatures make turning on theair conditioning in the office, at home and on the move. Air conditioning is an escape from the heat especially for those who spend many hours a day, especially the hottest ones, on board their car. Air conditioning has now become an option that motorists can’t say no to, even if there are some rules which must be respected in its use to avoid running into Highway Code fines, even very salty. Let’s start by saying that receiving a fine for having the air conditioning on is very rare, but in any case it is necessary to know what the law says, so as to never find myself unprepared.
Fines for Car Air Conditioning – Credit: iStock
Air conditioning in the car, when you can be fined
The use ofair conditioning in the car it cannot be indiscriminate, but must comply with the provisions of the Highway Code. This, at thearticle 157 which regulates thearrestthe stop and the stopover of the vehicle, requires that the car’s air conditioning must be turned off when the car is parked. Failure to comply with this policy may result in the assignment of a finealso quite salty.
Paragraph 7 of the aforementioned article states: “It is forbidden to keep the engine running while the vehicle is parked, in order to keep the air conditioning system in the vehicle itself functioning; the violation results in the administrative sanction of payment of a sum from 223 euros to 444 euros”. This rule was introduced into the Highway Code in 2007, and then modified in 2010 and updated in the amounts of the fines foreseen first in 2014 and, finally, to April 2022. In this regard it is also useful to know that, by making the cited article a generic reference to the air conditioning system, this regulates both the cases in which thecold air in summer and to those where the lights are turned on in winter heating inside the vehicle.
As mentioned, this is a rule that is difficult to find concrete application on Italian roads, above all due to its seasonality and the common sense of those who monitor it which often prevails over the law. However, there is no shortage of cases of fines for having air conditioning turned on in cars in unauthorized situations, with the jurisprudence returning to question this rule several times. In 2015, for example, a 25-year-old man from Como was fined because he had the air conditioning on while he stopped to talk on the phone.
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Difference between stop and stop
In order to correctly understand the law on air conditioning in cars, it is good to remember the difference between stop and stop, with article 157 of the Highway Code which provides for a fine only in the first case. When a motorist stops the car, perhaps in traffic, queuing at a traffic light or at a level crossing, or makes a quick stop understood as a “temporary suspension of travel even if in an area where parking is not permitted, to allow people to get on or off, or for other needs of very short duration”, is not obliged to turn off the air conditioning. This means that you cannot be fined if you leave the air conditioning on.
For stopover, however, “means the suspension of the vehicle’s movement for a prolonged period of time, with the possibility of the driver leaving”. Practical examples are cases in which the vehicle is abandoned to go on a quick errand and, in the specific case in question, the air conditioning is left on to prevent the vehicle from overheating. In this case you can be fined according to the provisions of article 157 of the Highway Code. What has been said is confirmed in Circular from the Ministry of the Interior of 12 August 2010 (Prot. no. 300/A/11310/10/101/3/3/9), which specifies that the ban on the use of air conditioning is “limited to parking the vehicle and not also to stopping the vehicle” .
Air conditioning in the car, fines
Based on what has been said above, when your vehicle is in stopover it is necessary turn off the air conditioning. Failure to comply with this rule leads to the application of a fine which can also be very salty, with the required amounts may vary from 223 to 444 euros. The reasons for this rule are to be found in the negative environmental impact of leaving the car running without driving for the sole purpose of refrigerating the passenger compartment. It is also necessary to clarify that this legislation does not affect i electric vehicles who, therefore, cannot be fined if the driver is parked and with the air conditioning on
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Air conditioning consumption in the car
The rule that limits the air conditioning consumption in the car follows environmental logic, trying to reduce the emission of pollutants into the environment (CO2). In Europe, Green Deal policies have led to the emergence of standards such as that of air conditioning in cars, to try to contain polluting substances, preventing them from being released into the air. In fact, in many countries, laws and regulations that are even tougher than the Italian one try to limit the consumption of air conditioning in the car, with the vehicle manufacturers themselves working to make their vehicles more compliant with the new standards.
It must also be said that, in addition to the higher negative environmental impact generated by a parked vehicle with the air conditioning on, there is also a higher fuel consumption. In summer especially, it is estimated that motorists who always have the air conditioning on in their cars are subject to an increase in fuel costs of around 10 – 20 percent more.
How to avoid fines
Wanting to try to summarize what has been said so far, it is possible to state that to avoid the fines foreseen byarticle 157 of the Highway Code relating to the improper use of air conditioning, it is necessary to avoid keeping it on during prolonged stops. Failure to comply with this rule leads to fines which, from April 2022, can fluctuate within the price range between 223 and 444 euros, as well as greater fuel consumption and a higher and more harmful environmental impact.
