Speeding fines in Germany: the complete tables
Germany prices speeding by vehicle type, by where it happened and by the km/h left after the tolerance deduction.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Your excess speed in the catalogue
Total including fees
€143.50
| Table 1, number | 11.3.4 |
| Points | 1 |
| Driving ban | none |
Speeding fines in Germany come from the national fine catalogue, the Bußgeldkatalog, which sets one fixed amount for each band of excess speed rather than leaving it to a local court. For cars and motorbikes, table 1 c applies: from €30 to €800 in a built-up area and from €20 to €700 outside towns. Your first point in the Flensburg driver register comes at 21 km/h over; a driving ban (Fahrverbot) is the norm from 31 km/h over in town and 41 km/h outside. Towing a caravan or trailer with your car moves you to table 1 a, the same as lorries and coaches, with higher fines and earlier points. Vehicles carrying labelled dangerous goods and buses with passengers use table 1 b. Two offences of 26 km/h or more within a year usually bring a one-month ban, and deliberate speeding doubles any fine above 55 euros.
Why Germany has three speeding tables
Many newcomers expect one list of speeding fines. The German catalogue has three, all in the annex to the fine catalogue ordinance (BKatV). The vehicle you drive picks the table; your nationality, your licence and the kind of road do not. Entry 11 of the catalogue reads, in translation, "permitted maximum speed exceeded with", and then splits into three cases:
- 11.1, table 1 a: heavier vehicles and anything towing. That covers motor vehicles over 3.5 tonnes (cars excepted), cars with a trailer, vans and motorhomes up to 3.5 tonnes with a trailer, coaches and heavy goods vehicles.
- 11.2, table 1 b: vehicles from 11.1 that must display orange hazard plates because they carry dangerous goods, and buses with passengers on board.
- 11.3, table 1 c: everything else, which in practice means your car, your motorbike and the hire van for moving flat, as long as it stays at 3.5 tonnes and tows nothing.
The definitions are lifted from Section 3(3) of the Road Traffic Regulations (StVO), the same rule that sets default limits by vehicle type.
Table 1 c: cars and motorbikes
Most expats will only ever see this table. Amounts apply after the tolerance has been deducted and assume carelessness, not intent.
| Over the limit | No. | In town | Points | Ban | Outside towns | Points | Ban |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| up to 10 km/h | 11.3.1 | €30 | 0 | no | €20 | 0 | no |
| 11 to 15 km/h | 11.3.2 | €50 | 0 | no | €40 | 0 | no |
| 16 to 20 km/h | 11.3.3 | €70 | 0 | no | €60 | 0 | no |
| 21 to 25 km/h | 11.3.4 | €115 | 1 | no | €100 | 1 | no |
| 26 to 30 km/h | 11.3.5 | €180 | 1 | no | €150 | 1 | no |
| 31 to 40 km/h | 11.3.6 | €260 | 2 | 1 month | €200 | 1 | no |
| 41 to 50 km/h | 11.3.7 | €400 | 2 | 1 month | €320 | 2 | 1 month |
| 51 to 60 km/h | 11.3.8 | €560 | 2 | 2 months | €480 | 2 | 1 month |
| 61 to 70 km/h | 11.3.9 | €700 | 2 | 3 months | €600 | 2 | 2 months |
| over 70 km/h | 11.3.10 | €800 | 2 | 3 months | €700 | 2 | 3 months |
A notice for up to 15 km/h over in town is a warning fine (Verwarnungsgeld): pay it and the matter is closed, with no fee and nothing on your record. From 16 km/h over in town the amount passes €55, so a formal fine notice (Bußgeldbescheid) with fees follows, still without a point. Points start at 21 km/h, listed in annex 13 of the Driving Licence Ordinance. The page on 21 km/h over explains why that line matters so much for anyone still on probation.
Table 1 a: the caravan trap
Holidays are where many residents meet this table for the first time. Hitch a caravan, a horse box or a trailer for the garden waste to your car and you are driving an 11.1 vehicle. The same camera flash now costs much more.
| Over the limit | No. | In town | Points | Ban | Outside towns | Points | Ban |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| up to 10 km/h | 11.1.1 | €40 | 0 | no | €30 | 0 | no |
| 11 to 15 km/h | 11.1.2 | €60 | 0 | no | €50 | 0 | no |
| 16 to 20 km/h | 11.1.4 | €160 | 1 | no | €140 | 1 | no |
| 21 to 25 km/h | 11.1.5 | €175 | 1 | no | €150 | 1 | no |
| 26 to 30 km/h | 11.1.6 | €235 | 2 | 1 month | €175 | 1 | no |
| 31 to 40 km/h | 11.1.7 | €340 | 2 | 1 month | €255 | 2 | 1 month |
| 41 to 50 km/h | 11.1.8 | €560 | 2 | 2 months | €480 | 2 | 1 month |
| 51 to 60 km/h | 11.1.9 | €700 | 2 | 3 months | €600 | 2 | 2 months |
| over 60 km/h | 11.1.10 | €800 | 2 | 3 months | €700 | 2 | 3 months |
The point arrives at 16 km/h over instead of 21, and a ban is the norm in town from 26 km/h. Remember too that the default limit outside towns drops to 80 km/h with a trailer behind a car, so a speed that would be legal solo can already sit in one of these bands.
Table 1 b: dangerous goods and full buses
This is the professional end of the scale, relevant if you drive a coach or a tanker for a living or work in logistics.
| Over the limit | No. | In town | Points | Ban | Outside towns | Points | Ban |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| up to 10 km/h | 11.2.1 | €70 | 0 | no | €60 | 0 | no |
| 11 to 15 km/h | 11.2.2 | €120 | 1 | no | €70 | 0 | no |
| 16 to 20 km/h | 11.2.4 | €320 | 1 | no | €240 | 1 | no |
| 21 to 25 km/h | 11.2.5 | €360 | 2 | 1 month | €280 | 1 | no |
| 26 to 30 km/h | 11.2.6 | €480 | 2 | 1 month | €400 | 2 | 1 month |
| 31 to 40 km/h | 11.2.7 | €640 | 2 | 2 months | €560 | 2 | 1 month |
| 41 to 50 km/h | 11.2.8 | €800 | 2 | 3 months | €700 | 2 | 2 months |
| 51 to 60 km/h | 11.2.9 | €900 | 2 | 3 months | €800 | 2 | 3 months |
| over 60 km/h | 11.2.10 | €950 | 2 | 3 months | €900 | 2 | 3 months |
At 11 to 15 km/h over in town the fine is already €120 with a point. Drivers with a foreign licence and a German job are treated exactly like local drivers here.
Which limit applies when there is no sign
Section 3(3) StVO sets the defaults. In built-up areas the limit is 50 km/h for every motor vehicle; the yellow place-name sign marks where that starts and ends. Outside towns it is 100 km/h for cars and other vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes, 80 km/h for, among others, cars with trailers, vehicles of 3.5 to 7.5 tonnes and buses, and 60 km/h for vehicles over 7.5 tonnes. The 100 km/h default does not apply on the Autobahn or on roads with physically separated carriageways or at least two marked lanes in each direction. Fog, snow or rain that cuts visibility below 50 metres caps you at 50 km/h whatever the signs say, and so do snow chains.
Coming from the UK or the US, the conversions are worth memorising: 50 km/h is about 31 mph, 100 km/h about 62 mph. German fines are always worked out in km/h, so a car with an mph speedometer needs the small inner scale.
From the camera reading to your band
The tables use the speed after the tolerance deduction. Measured at 78 km/h in a 50 zone, a driver is charged with 75 km/h, so 25 km/h over: €115 and 1 point. The deduction and the letters that follow a flash are covered on the page about being caught by a speed camera.
Roadworks, 30 zones and overhead signs
The catalogue only asks whether the offence happened inside or outside a built-up area. A 30 km/h zone outside a school is charged at the in-town rate; a roadworks section on the Autobahn with a 60 limit is charged at the out-of-town rate. Caught at 64 km/h in a 30 zone, a driver is charged with 31 km/h over after the deduction, which means €260, 2 points and a 1-month ban. The electronic gantry signs on motorways are traffic signs in their own right. A limit shown there binds you while it is lit, even if the stretch was unrestricted yesterday.
What a point means for an expat
Points go into the Fahreignungsregister, the driver record held by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) in Flensburg. One point expires 30 months after the decision becomes final, two points after 60 months. If you moved to Germany with a licence from another EU country that you have held for less than two years, the German probation rules apply to you. Any speeding offence that carries a point then counts as a serious A offence, which leads to a remedial course and adds 2 years to the probation. Exchanging a non-EU licence for a German one does not wipe existing entries either.
When the standard rate is not the final word
The amounts in the tables are meant for ordinary circumstances. Section 17(3) of the Administrative Offences Act (OWiG) tells the authority to weigh how serious the offence was, how much blame attaches to the driver and, for larger sums, the driver's finances. In practice that means a higher fine for someone with relevant previous entries far more often than a lower one for anyone else. Any departure has to be stated and explained in the notice, so comparing your letter with the table above shows straight away whether the authority has moved away from the standard rate.
Repeat offences and intent
Section 4(2) BKatV adds a ban that is in none of the tables. Once a fine for 26 km/h or more over has become final, a second offence of 26 km/h or more within 12 months normally brings a one-month ban. Outside towns at 28 km/h over, that means €150, 1 point and 1 month off the road. Separately, all amounts assume negligence (Section 1(2) of the fine catalogue ordinance). Where the authority finds you sped on purpose, any rate above €55 is doubled: €640 rather than €320 for 41 km/h over outside towns.
Fees on top of the fine
A formal notice adds a fee of five per cent of the fine, at least €25, plus €3.50 for delivery, under Section 107 OWiG. Our example of €115 therefore comes to €143.50. To run your own reading with vehicle type and location, use the fine calculator; what a ban means in practice, including for a foreign licence, is on the driving ban page.