Speeding outside German towns: country roads and the Autobahn

Default limits outside towns

Section 3(3) StVO sets limits outside built-up areas by type of vehicle. Cars and other vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes permitted total weight: 100 km/h. Cars towing a trailer, vans and motorhomes up to 3.5 tonnes with a trailer, vehicles from 3.5 to 7.5 tonnes and coaches: 80 km/h. Vehicles over 7.5 tonnes, other vehicles with trailers and buses with standing passengers: 60 km/h.

The 100 km/h car limit does not apply on the Autobahn, on other roads whose carriageways are separated by a central reservation or other structure, or on roads with at least two marked lanes in each direction. That means many dual carriageways have no general limit for cars, just like motorways. Where a sign sets a limit on such a road, it binds you exactly like any other out-of-town limit and is charged from the same column. The lower limits for vehicles with trailers and heavy vehicles are not affected by the motorway exception.

Every band outside towns

Cars and motorbikes, table 1 c of the BKatV annex, after the deduction and assuming no intent. The total includes fees under Section 107 OWiG. The two right-hand columns show the camera reading at which each band starts, on a 100 km/h country road and under a 120 km/h sign.

A worked example from a country road

A car is measured at 152 km/h on a main road with no sign, so the limit is 100. The authority deducts 3 per cent and rounds down: 147 km/h charged, 47 km/h over. The notice reads €320 plus €28.50 in costs, €348.50 in total, 2 points and a 1-month ban. Under the old habit of thinking in mph, that is a little over 90 mph on a road where about 62 mph is allowed. Many people new to Germany assume that open country roads are generous. They are not: 100 km/h is the default on most of them, and fixed and mobile cameras are common on long straights.

Leaving a town

The out-of-town column starts at the back of the yellow place-name sign, the side with a red diagonal line. Accelerate before you pass it and you are still legally in town, where the rates are higher. Coming the other way, the town limit starts at the sign itself, even if houses appear earlier. A 70 km/h sign just outside a village is an out-of-town limit, and breaking it is priced from the out-of-town column. The hearing form states which column applies; with gaps of up to €100 between them, that line deserves a careful read.

Vans, lorries and moving day

Heavier vehicles have lower limits outside towns and a stricter table. From 3.5 to 7.5 tonnes the limit is 80 km/h, above 7.5 tonnes 60 km/h, and both are charged under table 1 a. A lorry over 7.5 tonnes measured at 84 km/h on a country road is 21 km/h over its limit: €150 and 1 point. A hire van of up to 3.5 tonnes without a trailer, the usual choice for moving house, counts as a car.

The tolerance at higher speeds

The PTB, Germany's metrology institute, sets an error limit of 3 km/h for readings up to 100 km/h and 3 per cent above. Outside towns most readings are above 100 km/h, so the percentage is what you will see on your letter. Under a 120 sign, 21 km/h over needs a reading of 146 km/h rather than 144. In mph terms, the margin at motorway speeds is roughly 2 to 3 mph. The full method is on the page about speed cameras.

The band that keeps your licence

At 31 to 40 km/h over, the difference between town and country is starkest. In town it means €260, two points and a month's ban. Outside towns it is €200 and 1 point, and you keep driving. On a 100 road a reading of 145 km/h still falls in this band; one more km/h and you are in the ban band covered on the page on 41 km/h over.

The catch is the repeat rule. This band is above 26 km/h, so if a fine for 26 km/h or more became final in the previous 12 months, Section 4(2) of the fine catalogue ordinance usually adds a one-month ban. With 33 km/h over and such a previous entry, the notice reads €200, 1 point and 1 month. The page on 26 km/h over explains how the twelve months are counted.

From 41 km/h over

From 41 km/h over, the out-of-town column brings a ban: one month up to 60 km/h, two months from 61 km/h and three months from 71 km/h, each step ten km/h later than in town, always with two points. For a first ban in two years you choose when to hand in your licence within 4 months of the notice becoming final. Residents with an EU licence surrender it to the authority; holders of non-EU licences get an entry noting the ban. The driving ban page explains the practical steps.

Motorway signs and roadworks

Expect limits on the Autobahn more often than its reputation suggests. Many stretches are signed permanently, and overhead gantries can show a lower figure when traffic or weather calls for it. A lit gantry sign is a traffic sign. Roadworks typically drop to 80 or 60 km/h, and mobile cameras are common there. Example: limit 120, reading 157 km/h, charged 152 km/h, 32 km/h over. That costs €200, €228.50 with fees, and 1 point, with no ban.

On unrestricted stretches there is no limit for a car to break. That is not true for everyone: a car with a caravan stays at its 80 km/h limit on the motorway, because the exception in Section 3(3) only lifts the car limit.

Towing on country roads

With a caravan or trailer you are charged under table 1 a. A reading of 106 km/h on an 80 road gives 22 km/h over: €150 and 1 point with the trailer, against €100 for a solo car under the same sign. In table 1 a, points outside towns start at 16 km/h over and bans at 31 km/h.

Weather and new drivers

Some limits need no sign. When fog, snow or rain cuts visibility below 50 metres, the maximum is 50 km/h, and the same applies with snow chains fitted (Section 3(1) and (4) StVO). A driver measured at 90 km/h on the Autobahn in thick fog may therefore have broken the limit with no sign in sight. For drivers on probation, any out-of-town offence from 21 km/h over counts as an A offence, exactly as in town. To check your own case, use the fine calculator.