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Welcome to our brand-new informational series.
In the next few weeks, we’ll publish both basic rules and expert knowledge, on driving in Germany.
Let’s start with a quick overview on the standard behavioral rules on the Autobahn.
Looking at the bottom left of the graphic, you’ll see a blue sign with a white street and white car. This is the official sign to indicate an Autobahn starts at this point. Autobahns in Germany are numbered from A1 to A999. As a rule, even-numbered Autobahns connect West and East and odd-numbered Autobahns connect North and South.
The recommended speed to go on the Autobahn is 130 kilometers per hour, which equals approximately 80 miles per hour. In order to be allowed to drive on the Autobahn, your vehicle must be able to drive at least 80 km/h. There are many parts of the Autobahn where there is no speed limit, but the majority of the German Autobahns does have speed limits indicated via the normal speed signs. These are not a suggestion but law. Going over the speed limit can be quite expensive but we’ll cover that in another post.
Tailgating, or not keeping enough distance between two vehicles, is prohibited in Germany by law. It is especially dangerous on the Autobahn due to the high speeds. The rule of thumb is to keep “half a speedometer’s” distance, which means you take your speed and divide it by two: that is the distance you should keep. The white-and-black posts on the side of the street are positioned at a distance of 50 m from each other, so they are a good way to estimate distances.
The German Traffic Regulations stipulate the right-lane rule. This means that everyone must drive in the lane furthest to the right unless they are passing another vehicle.
If you want to pass another vehicle on the Autobahn, always pass them on their left. Even though there is an empty lane on their right, you are not allowed to pass there. If you are approaching a vehicle from behind and they are driving in the middle lane even though the right lane is empty, still pass them on their left. The only instances in which passing on the right is allowed is when the speed is below 60 km/h in all lanes. The right lane can then not go faster than 80 km/h (i.e. in traffic jams).
After you have passed a vehicle, drive to the very right lane again. You cannot just stay in the middle lane.
