Driving in Germany

Our guide will help you prepare for any differences by outlining all of the crucial information you need to know before setting off on your journey.

For prompt help, attempt using our quick links below to lightly navigate to the right section.

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Things you need to take with you

It is essential to carry the below items to stay safe on your tour and ensure you are abiding by all of the foreign laws, you may not typically be acquainted to.

Driving licence

Visitors railing or driving in Germany must have reached the minimum age required to drive/rail a vehicle of equivalent category even if they are qualified to drive at a lower age in their country of residence.

A foreign driving licence does not entitle the holder to drive/rail a motor vehicle in Germany until the age of 18yrs old.

Driving licences issued in EU and EEA countries are accepted. Motorists must carry their driving licence with them when driving and demonstrate it to any authorised person on request.

Items required in your car or with motorbike

Vehicles in Germany are required by law to carry the following items. Hefty on-the-spot fines can be issued for failing to carry specific items.

Reflective jackets
Warning triangle (Compulsory for vehicles registered in Germany)
Headlamp slat deflectors (Depending on your car, you will either need deflector stickers or have to adjust the rafter by hand)
Very first aid kit (Compulsory for four-wheeled vehicles registered in Germany)

Our European driving kit has all the essentials for people driving in Germany

Safety helmets are compulsory for drivers and passengers of mopeds and motorcycles
Motorcycles and mopeds must always be ridden with their passing lights on, even in daylight.

Rules of the road

Drive on the right; overtake on the left, it's also worth noting that German roads do not have tolls for private cars, however, all vehicles (and vehicle combinations) exceeding 7.Five tonnes, which is levied by electronic means.

Overtaking and passing

Inwards and outside built-up areas, where mighty traffic has built up into queues and two or more lanes of traffic are travelling in the same direction, vehicles on the right may overtake those on the left.

Trams in maneuverability must be overtaken on the right. If the space on the right is inadequate, they may be overtaken on the left. In one-way streets, trams may be overtaken on either side. Priority must be given to passengers boarding or alighting from stationary trams.

It is prohibited to overtake or pass a school bus which has stopped outside a built-up area to let passengers on or off. These buses usually have crimson flashing lights.

The meaning of the "no overtaking sign" is that it is prohibited to overtake a vehicle with more than two wheels, e.g. a car driver may overtake a motorcycle, but a motorcyclist may not overtake a car.

When a sign gives warning of a lane closure (for example in case of road works), drivers in the lane worried must drive to the end and merge.

Priority

At crossroads and junctions, traffic coming from the right has priority.
Vehicles turning left at an intersection must give way to all oncoming vehicles.
All road users must give way to fire engines, ambulances and police vehicles which have blue flashing lights, irrespective of whether there is an audible warning signal or not.
Traffic in a roundabout has right of way, except when signs indicate otherwise. Drivers must not indicate as they come in a roundabout; they must, however, use their indicators before leaving the roundabout.
All road users must give way to fire engines, ambulances and police vehicles which have blue flashing lights, irrespective of whether there is an audible warning signal or not.
In mighty traffic, drivers must not come in an intersection unless their exit is clear, even if they have priority or if the lights are green.
Trams do not have absolute priority over other vehicles.
Buses and school buses have priority when leaving bus stops and other vehicles must give way to a bus driver who has signalled his intention to leave the kerb.

Warning of treatment

Light signals and audible signals should only be given when overtaking outside built-up areas or in case of imminent danger.

Road signs

Germany has ratified the Convention on Road Signs and Signals (Vienna, 1968).

The "stop" sign is a crimson octagon bearing the word STOP in white.

Most signs are lightly understandable; however, the following do not go after the Convention:

A yellow circular sign with a green border and the letter "H" in green = bus or tram stop
A blue rectangular sign with, for example, "70 one hundred ten km/h" in white = recommended speed range
Yellow rectangular sign with a black border and the word "Umleitung" in black = diversion
A blue rectangular sign with a white arrow pointing upwards, the letter "U" and a figure in white = diversion for motorway traffic
A green bordered inverted triangle, bearing the picture of a flying eagle and the words "Landschafts Schutzgebiet" (protected area of countryside) = no parking on the roadside or outside designated parking places
A blue rectangle bearing white symbols of a car, a house and two persons playing with a ball = a residential area where pedestrians may use the road and drivers must exercise special care and be able to stop on the spot at all times; parking is permitted only in designated places.
A rectangular sign with the word "Zone" and a prohibition sign indicates that the prohibition (for example "no parking") applies to the entire area up to an end of prohibition sign.

Traffic lights

The international three-colour system is in use.

A crimson light with a green arrow pointing to the right permits motorists to turn right on condition that they give way to other road users and pedestrians.

At railway level crossings, a crimson flashing light signals the treatment of a train.

Service areas

There are many service areas in Germany. Most of them are administered by Autobahn Tank und Rast AG

Regulations

Tyre tread depth

The tread of all the tyres on a motor vehicle and on a trailer must be at least 1.6 mm deep along the entire width of the running surface.

Towing

Caravans, camper vans, luggage and boat trailers may be temporarily imported into Germany without formality.

No inventory is required for normal camping equipment in caravans. If the caravan contains expensive or unusual items, an inventory in duplicate is required.

The following dimensions for vehicles with trailers must not be exceeded:

Overall width: Two.55 m (1 m if towed by motorcycle)

Length of car + caravan: Eighteen.75 m

When towed by a motorcycle or private car, the fully laden weight of the trailer without brakes must not exceed one half of the unladen weight of the towing vehicle plus seventy five kg, but in total not more than seven hundred fifty kg.

Cars towing a caravan must be tooled with two-side rear-view mirrors, which may exceed the overall width of the caravan, but which must be foldable.

Seat belts

Drivers and all passengers on both front and rear seats of German and foreign registered cars must wear seat belts if the vehicle is tooled with belts.

A fine of €30 may be imposed for not wearing a seat belt and €60 (plus one point on driving licence) for transporting an unsecured child (a fine is incurred when the child's restraint system is not correct)

A child must also wear the seatbelt provided in a bus (failure to do so may incur a fine for the accompanying adult).

Exemptions fromt he German seat belt law:

Taxi drivers
Delivery fellows going from house to house
Drivers travelling at walking tempo (e.g. in car parks, when reversing).

The following may be exempt from this rule:

Persons who should not wear a belt for medical reasons
Persons over 1.50 m in height for whom the positioning of the anchorage points is such that the protective effect of the belt is not achieved

Such persons must be in possession of a special permit issued by the competent road traffic authorities ("Strassenverkehrsbehörde"); in the case of an application for medical reasons, a medical certificate* must be produced.

*A certificate drawn up by an authority in a visitor's country of residence and accompanied by a German translation will be accepted by the authorities.

Parking

A vehicle is considered to be parked if it remains in the same place for more than three minutes.

Standing and parking are usually permitted only on the right except in a one-way street.

Waiting is prohibited when:

At places indicated by the sign C,Nineteen "waiting and parking prohibited"
At places indicated by the sign C,Legitimate "parking prohibited", except to permit passengers to board or alight, and to blast or unload goods
Within five metres of a pedestrian crossing
In narrow roads or where visibility is not sufficient
Less than ten metres before traffic lights, "give-way" and "stop" signs if these would be concealed by the vehicle
At the entry or in front of fire stations
Where zig-zag lines are painted on the carriageway (bus stops, narrow roads and places with poor visibility)
On taxi ranks

Parking is prohibited when:

At places indicated by the sign "parking prohibited"
Within five metres of pedestrian crossings and intersections
Less than ten metres before traffic light signals
Within fifteen metres of a sign indicating a public vehicle stop
In front of vehicle entries to properties and, in narrow streets, opposite these entries
On the carriageway of priority roads outside built-up areas
Along the kerb, facing oncoming traffic
For trailers with an admissible total weight of more than two tonnes in residential areas, health resorts, recreation and hospital areas inbetween two thousand two hundred hours and six hundred hours and twenty four hours a day on Sundays and public holidays

In streets where parking is probihited by sign C,Eighteen, a motorist can stop for three minutes, or for longer in order to permit passengers to alight or board, or for loading/unloading.

Restricted parking zones

Parking meters (if the meter is out of order, the driver must use a parking disc); drivers can park free for the very first half hour
Parking disc zones: these areas are indicated by the sign C,Legal on a white square, with a parking disc in a corner of the square
Residents' parking zones: these areas are indicated by sign C,Legitimate on a white square accompanied by the words "Anwohner mit Parkausweis Nr. . frei" (except for holders of parking permits No. . ); the times during which the confinement applies are indicated on an extra panel

At night, any vehicle, including a trailer, parked on the public highway must be illuminated at the front and the rear. However, in built-up areas, motor vehicles of less than Two.8 tonnes are exempt from this requirement if they are reasonably illuminated by street lighting or if they are parked in an authorised parking place. Trailers must always display lights.
A caravan trailer may not be left in a public parking space for more than two weeks.

Enforcement of parking regulations

Wheel clothespins are not used in Germany, but vehicles causing an obstruction can be towed away.

Fines of €Ten to €35 are imposed for parking offences. The cost of retrieving an impounded car varies from €100 to 300.

Disabled parking access

The following concessions are granted to disabled motorists. The same concessions apply to foreign badge holders:

Free parking for up to three hours in a restricted or no parking zone (the arrival time should be indicated by a parking disc which should be clearly displayed on the windscreen)
Free unlimited parking at meters and pay and display spaces
Up to three hours’ parking in a space reserved for resident permit holders
Parking permitted in pedestrian zones during loading and unloading times

These concessions only apply if there are no other parking facilities in the surroundings.

Travelling with children

Children over three years old must be transported on the rear seats of vehicles. A child under twelve years of age and measuring less than 1.50 m travelling in any type of vehicle must be seated in a child seat or child restraint.

Where a child restraint/seat is not available, a child of three years and over must use a seat belt or other safety device affixed to the seat. A child under three years old may not be transported in a vehicle without child restraint/seat.

All child restraints/seats used must conform to the ECE 44/03 norm.

It is the responsibility of the driver to ensure that all children are securely restrained.

These regulations apply also to children travelling in foreign registered vehicles driven by visitors.

Speed thresholds

There is a speed limit of fifty km/h in built-up areas for all types of motor vehicle, unless otherwise indicated by road signs.

A built-up area starts from the place name shown at the beginning of a town or village.

Motorists are required to exercise excellent care when in the neighborhood of children and disabled or old people; they must drive in such a way that they can stop without danger at any time.

Outside built-up areas, the following thresholds (in km/h) apply, except when signs indicate a lower limit:

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Driving in Germany, RAC Drive