Italy Court upholds fine for driver claiming phone was a zucchini

An Italian woman is taking her legal battle to the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal of Trieste upheld a 320 euro fine for using a mobile phone while driving. The incident occurred in September 2020 in Ronchi dei Legionari, near Udine.

The driver claimed that the object held in her hand was not a smartphone, but a piece of fried zucchini she was about to eat. To support her defense, she presented phone records showing no active calls and noted that her vehicle was equipped with a hands-free system. She also filed a complaint against the Carabinieri, alleging they recorded false information in the official report.

However, judges rejected her arguments at both the first instance and the appellate levels. The court noted that the driver did not contest the officers' findings at the time of the initial stop, only raising the zucchini defense during the appeal process. Furthermore, the court clarified that the absence of recorded calls does not prove a device was not in use, as phones can be used for messaging or internet browsing without generating call logs.