In Germany you drive on the right, with the steering wheel on the left, and roundabouts go anticlockwise. At junctions without signs or road markings, traffic from your right goes first, even from a small side street.
Watch for fixed, mobile and red light cameras, and for unmarked camera cars.
The most important first.
At junctions with no signs, lights or markings, traffic from the right goes first, even from a small side street and even at T-junctions. Unless a sign such as the yellow diamond gives you priority, assume traffic from the right goes first.
Where no limit is signposted, cars have no speed limit and 130 km/h is only advised. Traffic can come up behind you very fast, so check your mirrors early and signal before you pull out. Signposted limits, including electronic ones, are enforced.
As soon as traffic on the Autobahn or another road with two or more lanes each way slows to walking pace or stops, you must leave a corridor for emergency vehicles. It goes between the far left lane and the lane next to it: drivers in the left lane move left, everyone else moves right. Not doing so costs €200, a 1-month ban and 2 points.
Overtake only on the left, even if a slow car sits in the left lane. Passing on the right is allowed only when the left lane is queuing or crawling. Outside towns it costs €100 and 1 point.
Stopping on the Autobahn is banned, including on the hard shoulder, except in an emergency or breakdown. Turning round and reversing are banned too, even if you miss your exit. Reversing on the carriageway costs €200, a 1-month ban and 2 points.
When you turn, you must let cyclists going straight on through, including those on a cycle path beside the road. Check your mirror and over your shoulder before every turn.
If the road is icy, snowy or slushy, you must have winter tyres with the Alpine symbol, whatever the date. Check that a hire car in winter has them.
Go anticlockwise and give way to traffic already on the roundabout, which comes from your left. Traffic on the roundabout has priority only where a give way sign stands with the blue roundabout sign. A circular junction without a give way sign follows priority to the right, so traffic entering it goes first.
Radar detectors and the camera-warning function of a phone app or sat nav are banned. A court has ruled that a passenger may not run such an app either. The fine is €75 and 1 point, and police can seize a radar detector. Radio traffic reports that mention cameras are allowed.
Right turns on red are banned unless a small green arrow sign is fixed beside the light. Even then you must stop completely first and give way to everyone.
You may pass a bus or school bus that is stopped at a stop with its hazard lights on only at walking pace. This applies to oncoming traffic too. You may not overtake a bus approaching a stop with its hazard lights on.
A blue sign showing people, a child playing and a car marks a traffic-calmed area. Drive at walking pace, let pedestrians use the whole street and park only in marked bays.
Some stretches of motorway have no general limit. 130 km/h is the recommended maximum, and many sections are signposted lower. The sign with the town's name on it sets the town limit by itself, usually with no speed sign.
The car must carry a warning triangle, a hi-vis vest, a first aid kit and winter tyres (in winter). Hire cars should have them, but check before you drive away, because the driver gets the fine.
Only vehicles with a green Umweltplakette sticker on the windscreen may enter. The rule also applies to foreign-registered vehicles. Where: 35 zones as of August 2026, including Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt am Main, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, Bremen, Leipzig and one zone covering 13 cities of the Ruhr. Hannover, Freiburg and Mainz lifted their zones in 2024 and 2025. Fine: €100. Check that a hire car has the green sticker on the inside of the windscreen before you drive into a city. If you bring your own car, order the sticker online before you travel. It costs about €5 to €20.
Older diesel cars are banned. Euro 4 and older diesels may not enter the Munich low emission zone or use the Mittlerer Ring, and may not enter the Stuttgart zone. In Stuttgart's small inner zone, Euro 5 diesels are banned too. Darmstadt bans Euro 5 and older diesels on Hügelstraße and Heinrichstraße. Where: Munich, Stuttgart and two streets in Darmstadt. Fine: €100 plus fees. Euro 6 diesels are not affected. Check the emission class if you are offered an older diesel.
The blood alcohol limit is 0.05, and zero for drivers under 21, and drivers in the 2-year probationary period of a German licence. The limit is 0.5 per mille in blood or 0.25 mg/l in breath.
Where no sign says otherwise, in kilometres per hour.
The app animates all 7 junctions for Germany, including the ones above.
Open it in the appYou are on a priority road. Traffic from side roads must give way to you at every junction.
Your priority ends. Priority to the right applies at the next junction without signs.
At the next junction, traffic from the right has priority.
You have priority at the next junction only.
Give way to traffic on the road you are entering.
Stop and give way to traffic on the road you are entering.
You are entering a built-up area. The 50 km/h limit starts at this sign, with no speed sign needed.
You are leaving the built-up area. The 50 km/h urban limit ends.
All signposted speed limits and overtaking bans on this stretch end.
Autobahn rules start here.
Low emission zone. Only vehicles displaying a sticker of a colour shown on the plate may enter. All current zones admit only the green sticker.
You may turn right while the light is red, after stopping.
Germany uses fixed speed cameras, mobile cameras, red light cameras and unmarked police cars that film from behind. There is no official camera warning sign. Radar detectors and camera-warning apps are illegal. Section control has only been used on one stretch of the B6 near Hanover, which was reported switched off in January 2024.
Blitzer, Blitzersäule, Starenkasten
Looks like: Older units are a box with one or more lenses on a pole. Modern units are a grey column with three or more dark rings.
Catches: Speeding. Some also catch red light offences and tailgating.
Sometimes a sign warns of the camera, but you may see it too late.
Ampelblitzer, Rotlichtblitzer
Looks like: A camera box a few metres past the traffic light on the right, triggered by sensor loops set into the road surface. Some newer units give little or no visible flash.
Catches: Running a red light. Many also record speeding at the same time.
The first photo is taken at the stop line and the second as you cross the junction.
Mobiler Blitzer, Laserpistole
Looks like: A box with one or more lenses on a tripod or pole beside the road, a measuring device inside a parked car, or a police officer with a laser gun.
Catches: Speeding.
Every camera type in Germany, the warning signs and how fines reach you
| Licence from | Permit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| the EU, Iceland, NO, LI, Switzerland | Not needed | Licences issued in the EU, the EEA and Switzerland are recognised without a translation. |
| United Kingdom | Not needed | The UK government says a UK photocard licence is enough for stays of up to 6 months. For longer stays you also need a 1968 IDP, which can only be bought in the UK. |
| New Zealand | Not needed | Germany has waived the translation requirement for New Zealand licences. |
| United States, Canada, Australia, Japan | Required | German law requires a translation of these licences. An International Driving Permit serves as the translation, and permits under the 1926, 1949 and 1968 conventions are all accepted. A translation by an automobile club of the issuing country or a sworn translator also works. Carry it with your licence, because the IDP alone is not valid. |
Only vehicles with a green Umweltplakette sticker on the windscreen may enter. The rule also applies to foreign-registered vehicles. Where: 35 zones as of August 2026, including Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt am Main, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, Bremen, Leipzig and one zone covering 13 cities of the Ruhr. Hannover, Freiburg and Mainz lifted their zones in 2024 and 2025. Fine: €100.
Tip: Check that a hire car has the green sticker on the inside of the windscreen before you drive into a city. If you bring your own car, order the sticker online before you travel. It costs about €5 to €20.
Older diesel cars are banned. Euro 4 and older diesels may not enter the Munich low emission zone or use the Mittlerer Ring, and may not enter the Stuttgart zone. In Stuttgart's small inner zone, Euro 5 diesels are banned too. Darmstadt bans Euro 5 and older diesels on Hügelstraße and Heinrichstraße. Where: Munich, Stuttgart and two streets in Darmstadt. Fine: €100 plus fees.
Tip: Euro 6 diesels are not affected. Check the emission class if you are offered an older diesel.
Cars pay no toll or vignette on the Autobahn or other main roads. Only two tunnels charge cars.
| At the pump | Means |
|---|---|
| Benzin | Petrol (gasoline) |
| Super | Unleaded petrol with up to 5 per cent ethanol, labelled E5 |
| Super E10 | Unleaded petrol with up to 10 per cent ethanol |
| Super Plus | Premium unleaded petrol with up to 5 per cent ethanol |
| Diesel | Diesel, labelled B7 in a square |
| Diesel B10 | Diesel with more biodiesel than standard diesel, labelled B10 in a square Easy to get wrong |
| HVO100 (XTL) | Paraffinic renewable diesel, labelled XTL in a square Easy to get wrong |
| Autogas (LPG) | Liquefied petroleum gas |
| Erdgas (CNG) | Compressed natural gas |
| Tankstelle | Petrol station |
The low emission zone covers the city inside the S-Bahn ring. You need the green sticker.
The low emission zone covers the area inside the Mittlerer Ring ring road. You need the green sticker.
Diesel cars of Euro 4 or older are banned in the zone and on the Mittlerer Ring itself. Euro 5 and Euro 6 diesels are not affected. The fine is €100.
The low emission zone covers the area inside the Autobahn ring. You need the green sticker.
Stuttgart has a low emission zone, with a stricter small zone covering the centre, Bad Cannstatt, Zuffenhausen and Feuerbach.
Euro 4 and older diesels are banned in the whole zone. Euro 5 diesels are also banned in the small zone.
There is no general limit for cars, but 130 km/h is the recommended maximum. Many stretches have signposted limits, and those are enforced.
Only where a small green arrow sign is fixed beside the red light. You must stop completely first and give way to everyone.
Not with an EU, EEA, Swiss, UK or New Zealand licence. Drivers with licences from the US, Canada, Australia and Japan need an IDP or an official translation, carried with the licence.
0.5 per mille (0.05 per cent). Drivers under 21 and drivers in the probationary period of a German licence must not drink at all.
No. Radar detectors and the camera-warning function of apps and sat navs are banned while driving, and a court has ruled that a passenger may not run one either. The fine is €75 and 1 point.
Yes, whenever the road has snow, ice, slush or frost, whatever the date. They must carry the Alpine symbol.
Yes, to enter a low emission zone (Umweltzone) it needs the green Umweltplakette on the windscreen. Driving in without one costs €100.
The emergency corridor. When traffic on a road with two or more lanes each way slows to walking pace or stops, the left lane moves left and all other lanes move right to leave a gap for emergency vehicles.
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Checked 15 October 2026. Official sources first.