Germany: everything you need on the road
Toll prices, live traffic, fuel, EV charging and the local rules of the road for Germany. Updated daily from official open-data sources. In English, German, Spanish and Polish.
Travel essentials for Germany
Speed rules: 50 km/h in built-up areas, 100 km/h on rural roads, and an advisory 130 km/h on the autobahn with no general upper limit. Driving faster than 130 km/h makes you partially liable in any accident regardless of fault. Trucks and motorhomes over 3.5 t are capped at 80 km/h rural and 100 km/h motorway.
Passenger-car tolls: none. Germany is one of the few EU countries without a general road toll for private vehicles. Trucks from 7.5 t pay the LKW-Maut via the Toll Collect system; violations cost up to 4,000 euros per offence.
Low-emission zones (Umweltzonen) operate in over 80 cities including Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart and the entire Ruhr region. Without the green Plakette sticker on the windscreen, drivers risk a 100 euro fine. Foreign vehicles must also display the sticker; it is available at workshops and TUV stations for around 15 euros.
Mandatory equipment: warning triangle, first-aid kit and one reflective vest per occupant. Flashing headlights to push a slower driver out of the left lane can be treated as coercion and lead to a 500 euro fine plus a one-month driving ban. Blood alcohol limit: 0.5 g/L for experienced drivers, 0.0 g/L for drivers under 21 or within their first two years.
Worst congestion hits Friday afternoons on the A1 around the Ruhr region, the A5 Hamburg-Basel corridor and the A2 Hanover-Berlin. Before long holiday weekends and bridge days, southbound sections toward the Alps are especially slow; leaving before noon or after 10 pm usually saves an hour.