Germany traffic rules and self driving car rental tips

The Complete Germany Driving and Rental Guide

Whether for leisure or daily use, driving is very popular in Germany, which is said to feature the most well-established and fast Autobahns. However, not all motorways in Germany have unlimited speed restrictions. You are allowed to drive as fast as the circumstances allows on 50% of the motorways, while for the other half are limited from 80 to 130 km/h, which are enforced.

Speed Limit and Traffic Signs

Driving in Germany is on the right side of the road. On Autobahns, one must take the right lane and overtake from the left.

Speed Limit

There is a speed limit of 50 km/h in rural areas and 100 km/h in built-up areas. Recommended maximum speed on motorways is 130 km/h.

Traffic Signs

German traffic signs can be classified into 4 types: regulatory, warning, information and direction signs.

Warning Signs

Warning signs are in red triangle shape with a few exceptions.

Bumpy Road

Level Crossing

Pedestrians

Children Crossing

Wild Animals Crossing

Regulatory Signs

German regulatory signs mostly feature circular shape with a red border, with some exceptions.

Give Way

Stop and Give Way

No U-Turn

No Overtaking

No Passenger Car

Information Signs

Information signs normally feature a square shape as well as blue background, with some other exceptions.

First Aid or Hospital

Car Park, Parking Garage

Toll Road

Stop-Customs

Direction Signs

German direction signs mostly feature a blue or yellow background and markings with location signs, route number information and distance.

Motorway Junction Sign to Service Area

Signpost at Junction Leading Onto a Minor Road

Diversion Sign

End of Diversion

Take a further step to read more useful information regarding Germany traffic signs here.

Seatbelt and Child Safety

Seatbelt Laws

The driver and all passengers are required by law to wear seatbelts if the car is underway. Failing to do so will incur an on-the-spot fine of €30.

Booster Seat Laws

Children over 150cm tall can sit in the front of the car. Younger ones will require appropriate restraints in the rear. Note that a baby must be seated in a baby seat facing backwards in the front passenger seat, and the front airbag must be disabled. If the child seat is not set properly, a fine of €60 will be imposed.

Parking, Fuel and Toll

Parking

· Permitted Parking

Drivers are allowed to park when a “Parkschein” can be found, and can pay the related parking fee to a parking machine. Insert coins to pay for the amount of time you wish to keep your parking spot. then place your ticket on the car’s dashboard in plain sight.

Germany Parking Machine Sign (Image from hiveminer.com)

· Permitted Parking

In Germany, you are considered "parked" if you leave your vehicle or if you stop/stand for longer than 3 minutes, unless you are actively boarding or discharging passengers or loading/unloading cargo.

You may not park in the following spots:

- Within 5 metres on either side of an intersection

- In front of driveway entrances or exits, or on the opposite side of the street

- If the roadway is too narrow to allow vehicles to enter or exit the driveway

- If parking will obstruct the use of marked parking places

- Within 15 metres on either side of a bus or streetcar stop marked with a green H-sign with yellow background

Germany_Traffic_Sign_Bus_or_Tram_Stop_15m_Parking_Prohibition_Prior_to_And_Behind_This_Sign_30m_Altogether

- Within 50 metres on either side of a white X-sign with red poles when outside of urban areas or within 5 metres when inside an urban area

Germany_Traffic_Sign_X_Sign_Give_Priority_to_Rail_Transport

- On a priority road outside of urban areas

- In front of a curb-cut or wheelchair ramp

- Adjacent to a traffic island or median

- On the street side of another parked vehicle ("double parked")

- On a marked bike lane - Anywhere there is a “No Parking” sign on the same side of the street

Germany_Traffic_Sign_No_Parking

Parking in forbidden areas will result in a parking fine that generally ranges from €5 to €25.

Fuel Prices

The average value for Germany gasoline price is €1.39 in January 2018 while diesel is €1.16.

Toll

Unlike trucks, passenger car can drive the Autobahn without toll fee.

However, cross a border into neighbouring countries such as Austria, Switzerland and Czech Republic will require purchasing a vignette that should be stuck on the car’s windshield. Make sure you let the car hire company know if you are planning to drive your vehicle outside Germany, and double-check at the counter whether the rented vehicle features the relevant vignette.

Traffic Violation

DUI Laws

Drivers with more than 2 years' experience are charged with a fine if found driving with 0.05% BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) or with 0.03% in conjunction with any other traffic offences or accidents.

Traffic Fines

There are traffic signs indicating a speed limit at many street sections. Drivers who are speeding in Germany may be caught by a speed trap and the fine ranges from €15 to €680 in town and €10 to €600 outside towns.

Germany Speed Trap （Image from ksta.de)

Travellers renting a car in Germany may receive billing details from their credit cards indicating that a certain amount has been debited, mainly because they have been found guilty of speed driving or prohibited parking. You can always contact EasyRentCars' 24/7 customer service team for clarifications on such cases.

Driving Licence and Age Requirements

Foreigners on short-term visit may rent a car and drive with a valid foreign driving licence for up to 6 months in Germany. All licences issued by the European Union are accepted. To drive in Germany, the driver must present a valid national driving licence that has been held for at least 1 or 2 years (according to different car hire companies).

You must be at least 18 years old to hire a car in Germany, and age may vary by car category.

Guest reviews

1 /

July 7, 2020

Destination: Wuppertal

8Small car for a bit expensive money but needed it for business

Car had some scratches which were not marked, fuel was level to level, altogether everything was fine.

C.Roeb

June 27, 2020

Destination: Cologne

10perfect

Great experience. Friedly staff, clean and good car.

June 10, 2020

8.7Smooth and easy car rent

I was upgrade and therefore more thank happy. Fuel was level to level which is always tricky cause you end up loading more fuel than originally needed, but okay. Was fine.

Aidin Abbasi

June 5, 2020

Destination: Bonn

9helps me a lot and I did what I want

The best in Germany, easy to find, easy to pick up, lowest price, best condition

x.zhang

May 29, 2020

Destination: Stuttgart

10Very good experience

Very good rental company ! They suggested me a lot of upgrade possibilities... but I don't need them for my trip.

r.sooden

May 21, 2020

Destination: Duesseldorf

9.7Excellent

very good experience. would recommend to others as well

M.Shahi

March 25, 2020

Destination: Hamburg

10Awsome

Everything was fantastic

Sebastian Schiefer

March 23, 2020

Destination: Frankfurt

9.7Great rental car, easy process

Great car, quick pick up and drop off! Very satisfied

G.Bajor

March 22, 2020

8.7We Frankfurcie nad Menem OK. WeFrankfurcie nad Odrą fatalnie.

Należy tutaj wyeksponować fakt bardzo złej i niezgodnej lokalizacji punktu odboioru samochodu podawanej we wskazówkach zawartych na umowie. Zły, noeprecyzyjny opis lokalizacji biura na terminalu a załączona mapka wprowadza w błąd. Chodzi o lokaliza ję na terminalu. Lokalizacja odbioru samochodu, czas otwarcia biura we Frankfurcie nad Odrą nieprzychylny dla klienta. Parkowanie samochody po jego odstawieniu i oddanie kluczyków na sga ji benzynowej odległej o 5 km to jakaś ogromna pomyłka. Tymbardziej, że odbywa się to tylko do godz. 21.00 A co z oddaniem samochodu po tym czasie? Ja musiałem czekać do rana na otwarcie biura. To wiązało się z koniecznością nocowania w hotelu i opóźnieniem mojej dalszej podróży. To wymaga koniecznej poprawy a ja osoboście jestem bardzo niezadowolony z takiego obrotu spraw.

J.Sasse

March 17, 2020

Destination: Hannover

9.3Good and friendly staff at HAJ airport

Everything as all time very good.

March 16, 2020

9.7Again good experience at EUROPCAR Hannover Airport.Friendly stay

Top staff at the airport.Kind, competent and jokey

C.LEE

Destination: Berlin

10Good and prefect.

Everything is prefect.

M.Gatica Vilo

9.3No prometen lo que se arrienda

Arrendé un auto Mercedez Benz y me entregaron un Renault. Creo que hay mucha diferencia entre los dos autos.

John W UK

March 14, 2020

Destination: Munich

9.7Easy Rent, Very Good Car and Experience

The staff were great and very helpful - spoke excellent English. Car was a Passat rather than a Skoda Superb - as Booked - they don't stock Skoda. Although I know the Skoda is bigger, the Passat worked out alright. The pick up and drop off were easy and staff were very helpful.

J.Rice

9Great vehicle for a great price!

The 2 agents I dealt with at the counter were extremely helpful and courteous. I was even given an upgrade to a much larger and newer vehicle for a very small up charge fee. I loved the vehicle and I had no issues with the rental company.

P.van der Mullen

March 13, 2020

8.7Very Good

It was ok

Bnur Erkılınç

10Excellent

Good

M.Ali Alamir Ali

March 7, 2020

10Good easy rent

The car was good but I wanted to change the name and the address of the invoice and Enterprise didn‘t want to help me with that.

K.Kostur

March 4, 2020

8.7Ripped off for the warranty case

We rented a Ford S-max minivan to go skiing to Austria. The car was all the time located in the secure car parking in front of the hotel. Unfortunately, either due to the cold or snow, the car window cracked. There was no sign of any external damage. When I returned the car, a member of staff told me that it should be no problem. When I got home, I saw a bill for 500 euro. I feel that I got ripped off for nothing(manufacturing defect). Good luck in resolving this issue as well, the expected response times are longer than 7 days.

March 2, 2020

9.7EUROPCAR at Hannover Airport again the best

Staff is really the best I ever met on airports Car was really good

m.acikgoz

8.3Very Good

it’s ok

A.YALMAN

February 29, 2020

9Excellent

Everything was good and generally, we had no problem. There was just one thing. The car was diesel and also using AdBlue. When we were on the road, the car started giving a warning "AdBlue level is low, after 130 km the engine will not start". The km in the warning was continuously decreasing so we had to fill AdBlue. Normally the GLOBAL rent a car is responsible for filling AdBlue we are just responsible for the filling diesel. After dropping off the car, we showed the receipt of AdBlue and got the payment of it after some days, there was no problem! But it was an extra procedure that we shouldn't have made an effort. And also if we did not show and request our payment back, it would be an extra cost for us so it does not sound good!

February 24, 2020

10Like coming home at Hannover airport

Top and friendly staff at Hannover Airport.It is a feeling like coming home to friends

February 19, 2020

7it’s ok

car has some demages, but it’s ok

C.Chen

February 18, 2020

Destination: Tuebingen

10Excellent rental experience, can’t wait the next trip

The car is clean and new. It’s better for the beginner if the staff guides the customer to check the car condition before hitting the road.

February 17, 2020

10Top and friendly staff at EUROPCAR at Haj airport

Every week it is really a pleasure to meet this kind employees from EUROPCAR at Hannover airport

m.Carti

February 15, 2020

Good car,they gave me diesel and big car...Only car tank was not full...I told personal and he changed 3/4 on check list...When i drop off car,Mrs.Lisa was so kind,she finished all procedures fast and easy...Thanks

Faisal

February 14, 2020

The lady didn't know the rule even though she was working there for 27 years as she claimed. The rule is if somebody has an Indian driving licence and they are travelling germany for short term (less than six months) they can hire a car with the same indian driving licence with out an IDP. I requested her and tried to explain her but she wouldn't listen, although i've hired a car so many times in germany & UK with the same licence. She made me go to the local police station and when they confirmed then she gave me the car. This whole process took 2 hours and i was so much depressed by all this.

February 13, 2020

9.7Kind and professional staff

Top staff at EUROPCAR airport HAJ

o.agbor

February 11, 2020

6Didn’t get what I paid for

I didn’t get the SUV I reserved but they gave me a smaller car and I was so pissed off like they wanna reap people off

February 7, 2020

9.3All time good experience with counter staff at the Airport in Hannover

Top staff at Hannover airport.Thank you very much

February 5, 2020

10it’s okay

it’s ok thanks

S.Chang

February 4, 2020

The counter staffs are very friendly and gave us clear guidance. We really appreciate it.

Ram Zajicek

Destination: Memmingen

We were upgraded and were very happy with the larger car

C.Esanu

January 29, 2020

9.7No complaints

The car was a free upgrade. Very nice and spacious. Unfortunately, Hertz counter in Memmingen airport opens a little late for our flight. We arrive at ~7 am and the counter used to open at 7:30 which was fine. Last time someone showed at 7:50 and told us they actually open at 8:00. This will leave us to wait 1 hour to pick-up the car on future bookings.

I.Tateo

January 24, 2020

8.3Got a new car, perfectly clean for a good deal.

The car was new, perfect. Counter could have been faster.

January 22, 2020

10Fast, kind and competent employees

Top team at the airport at EUROPCAR

Cem

Destination: Halle

8.7Not bad but it would be better.

The staff were talking poor English and the male staff was not polite. Also I requested to use toilet but he rejected!! The other things like vehicle condition etc. were good.

D.Flavell

January 21, 2020

9.7Excellent throughout

The car was exactly what we asked for. Very clean and new. Very good service at the counter. Easy to find right by arrivals at Frankfurt airport.

P.Smyth

January 18, 2020

6Initially good but frustrating

Checking with you now but hertz Did not hold the cars booked when our flight was delayed by 6 hours and we had to rebook with them through you Don’t understand why not given we paid and were arriving charged more and are trying to charge 75 euro for not bringing the car back 100% full when it was over 90% full and cost to top up would be c 10 euro

J.Webb

January 16, 2020

Quality of the car was excellent. Friendly and helpful service on pick up.

January 14, 2020

10EUROPCAR at Hannover airport is great!

Always like to come home.Very friendly and competent staff at the counter.

January 13, 2020

Destination: frankfurt am main

8Very Good

Was offered an option to upgrade to SUV (Ford KUGA 2.0) by paying EUR5 per day. Happy with the upgrade!

Liz M

January 8, 2020

9.7Great car, but misled on fuel type

The car we were given was actually a Hertz car, not a Dollar one. Everything was fine, other than when we picked up the car, the guy at the rental counter in Munich specifically said it was a diesel car. Part through through our trip, we needed to fill up with fuel, nbut the diesel nozzle didn't fit the tank. The tank suggested it was petrol. We called Hertz to ask what to do, We were told that the records stated diesel and "good luck". we spent a lot of time trying to decode the VIN numkber, but that didn't help, we researched the make / model of the car (Ford Kuga) online but that din't help either. We were close to going to a Ford dealer to get their help but it was the weekend. So in the end we filled up with petrol and everythingwas fine. When we returned the car to Frankfurt, the person who greeted us told us it was a petrol car. Your records for this vehicle need to be cahnged, or at least not have your counter staff tell customers incorrect info. Other than that, the car was excellent

January 5, 2020

9Always best experience with Alamo and EasyRentCars

Always they are my first choice of rental car company because of their cars, staff and prices

T.Bob

January 4, 2020

9.3Did the job, as advertised

Car exactly as expected, worked fine. Customer service agent at pick up was friendly and helpful.

M.Lui

January 3, 2020

The counter staff let me buy another fully protection insurance, but when I take that booking, I but the super cover for the insurance

E.Theodorou

Excellent !

M.Stamenov

December 26, 2019

Destination: Karlsruhe

9.3Excellent

Easy to find the drop off location at Frankfurt airport

January 6, 2020

Top customer service at Hannover airport.

Germany Car Rentals