Motor Vehicles

Some important road rules in Germany:

• All passengers must wear their seat belts. Children under the age of 12 must sit in a child seat (“Kindersitz”) unless they are taller than 1.5 m.
• The speed limit within town and city boundaries is 50 km/h. Many residential areas and areas near schools and Kindergärten have a speed limit of 30 km/h (“verkehrsberuhigte Zonen”). Cars are only allowed to drive at walking pace in especially signposted play streets (“Spielstraßen”). Outside city limits, on “country roads”, the limit is usually 70 km/h. If there are no signs restricting speed on motorways then drivers are advised to drive at the “recommended speed” of 120 km/h.
• People who do not abide by the highway code will often be fined and even lose their license. Serious breaches of traffic rules are punished on a points system. These points are registered centrally in a database (called the “Flensburger Verkehrssünder-Datei”) in the northern Germany city of Flensburg. As soon as a specific number of points has been accumulated, the offender has their license withdrawn and is forbidden from driving for a period of time.
• In Germany the legal blood alcohol limit is 0.5 per mil. One beer or a glass of wine is enough to reach this limit. It is recommended to not get behind the wheel if you have had anything to drink.
• If someone is involved in an accident or is the first person on the scene of an accident, first aid (“Erste Hilfe”) must be given. This person must also call the police and/or an ambulance.
• All accidents must be reported to Security Forces.