An 80-year-old man has admitted to police he was “wrong” after he somehow drove his Mercedes halfway down Rome’s iconic Spanish Steps in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
He wasn’t hurt, but emergency crews still took him to hospital to get checked over. According to police, he tested negative for drugs and alcohol.
The driver – whose name hasn’t been released – reportedly told officers he was “going to work” and just took a wrong turn. It’s not clear if he was using a GPS or just relying on memory, but either way, his grey Mercedes A-Class ended up stuck on the historic 18th-century steps around 4 a.m.
Police on patrol had already spotted the car and stopped it, and firefighters were called in to remove the vehicle using a crane.
While the car had visible damage, it’s still unclear if the historic steps were harmed. They closed off to the public while archaeologists check for any potential damage, which is standard procedure anytime something like this happens on Rome’s ancient landmarks.
Italian media confirmed the man did have a valid license. In Italy, drivers over 80 have to renew their license every two years and pass a basic medical and cognitive test.
This isn’t the first time the Spanish Steps have had a brush with bad driving. In 2022, a Saudi man drove a Maserati down the staircase and was charged with damaging cultural heritage after cracking some of the steps. That same year, two American tourists were fined and temporarily banned from the city centre after causing damage by riding electric scooters down the landmark.
The Spanish Steps get their name from the nearby Spanish Embassy and were restored just a few years ago in a €1.5 million project completed in 2015. They’ve been featured in tons of films, including the classic Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.
