Driving on the Autobahn in a rental car: what travellers really need to know

On a large part of the German Autobahn network there is no general speed limit. Where no sign says otherwise, the Richtgeschwindigkeit of 130 km/h applies, and that is a recommendation, not a limit. On the remaining sections the posted speed applies instead, often 100 km/h, 120 km/h or 130 km/h, typically on city approaches, through roadworks and in noise-sensitive areas.

Behind the wheel of a rental car that means you may drive as fast as the vehicle, the traffic and the weather allow on many stretches, but the responsibility is yours alone. A driver travelling faster than the advisory speed can be held partly liable after a crash, even when somebody else made the mistake. This article covers the rules that actually matter on the Autobahn, and the rental side that almost nobody thinks about until it is too late.

No speed limit does not mean no rules

The sentence most visitors carry in their heads is roughly this: Germany has a limit of 130 km/h. That is not correct. What is correct is that on large parts of the network no limit is imposed, and there the advisory speed stands as a recommendation. You will not be caught by a speed camera for going faster on those stretches. You will, however, be in a weaker legal position the moment something happens.

• The local rule of thumb for following distance is half the speedometer reading in metres; at high speed that turns into a very long stretch of road.
• Look far ahead, because the tail of a traffic jam appears with startling suddenness on an open stretch.
• Change lanes only with a shoulder check and an early indicator; the blind spot is especially treacherous at speed.
• In rain, crosswind or fading light, what counts is not what is allowed but what you can still control.

Which speed applies where?

Germany draws a clear line between built-up areas, country roads and the Autobahn. The yellow town sign and the blue Autobahn sign matter more than any figure printed in a guidebook. The overview below sums up what applies where.

Keep right, overtake on the left

The Rechtsfahrgebot, the duty to keep right, is not a politeness convention but a legal requirement. You stay as far right as you reasonably can and use the left lane only to overtake. Afterwards you move back to the right. A driver who sits in the left lane while the right is free slows everybody down and provokes risky manoeuvres behind them.

The flip side is the ban on passing on the right. Even when somebody ahead of you in the left lane is going too slowly, you may not pass them on the right. The correct response is to keep your distance, wait, and move back right only once you have finished overtaking. Tailgating and flashing your headlights at the car in front are not merely unpopular here, they are penalised.

When traffic gets heavy

In slow-moving column traffic the rule is relaxed. When queues form in several lanes, you may pass the left-hand queue on the right at only a moderately higher speed. That is not a licence to pull out: a driver who swings right in order to make progress is overtaking on the right and is breaking the rule.

Roadworks, overhead panels and the red X

Many stretches are spanned by gantries carrying variable message signs. Whatever is lit there applies from the gantry onward and only to the lane it sits above. A red X means the lane beneath it is closed, so leave it promptly and without drama. A displayed speed is a binding limit, even if it disappears again a few minutes later because the situation has changed.

• Through roadworks the lanes are narrower than usual, and the left one is often markedly narrower than the right.
• A sign showing a width reserves the narrow left lane for narrow vehicles; in a van, a motorhome or a car with a roof box, stay right.
• Yellow markings override white ones. Where yellow is laid down, only yellow counts, even if the white line is still visible.
• Hard shoulder running: you may use the hard shoulder only when a green arrow is lit above it.
• Choose your lane early, increase your following distance and shed speed before the narrow section, not inside it.

Form the rescue lane before you stop

As soon as traffic slows or stops on a carriageway with at least two lanes in your direction, a Rettungsgasse, a rescue lane, has to appear. Not once you see the blue lights, but from the moment things get slow. This is the rule locals are least forgiving about when a vehicle ignores it.

1. 1Ease off the accelerator as soon as brake lights come on ahead of you or somebody switches on their hazard lights.
2. 2Vehicles in the far-left lane pull to the left; every other lane pulls to the right.
3. 3The gap always opens between the left lane and the lane directly beside it, whatever the number of lanes.
4. 4Do not use the hard shoulder as the rescue lane; it may be blocked by a broken-down vehicle.
5. 5Keep the gap open until traffic is moving again, and never drive along behind emergency vehicles.

What this means for your rental car

A rental car is not your own car, and that is exactly where the unpleasant surprises come from. They rarely happen out on the road and almost always at the counter on return. Two things decide how the trip ends: liability, and the way you handle fuel and breaks.

Liability and the excess

• An agreed liability reduction does not cover every kind of behaviour. In cases of gross negligence it can fall away entirely or in part.
• Very high speed combined with distraction from navigation, a phone or a screen is precisely the pattern that later turns into a dispute.
• Before booking, have someone show you how high the excess is and what stays excluded. Tyres, glass, the underbody and the roof are the classic gaps.
• With DRIVO you see the security deposit and what is included before you book, and you can add an optional full-protection cover at checkout that lowers the excess.

Fuel consumption, filling up and breaks

• High speed costs disproportionately more fuel. In an unfamiliar vehicle, plan the fuel stop earlier rather than later.
• Filling up directly on the Autobahn is convenient but rarely cheap. An Autohof sits a few minutes beyond the exit and is usually the better choice.
• Check the fuel rule in your contract. Full to full is the only version with no arithmetic attached.
• Diesel or petrol: in an unfamiliar car, check once too often rather than once too rarely, because the wrong fuel ruins the day.
• Stop every couple of hours, get out, drink something. High speed tires you faster than it feels.

Breaks, breakdowns and emergency calls

The German Autobahn has its own culture of stopping, and its own vocabulary for it. Once you can tell the three terms apart you find what you need faster and irritate nobody.

• Rastplatz: a plain parking area, usually with a toilet and nothing else. Fine for a short break.
• Raststätte: directly on the Autobahn, with a filling station and a restaurant, open around the clock.
• Autohof: signposted just beyond an exit, usually quieter and often cheaper for fuel.
• Once you have filled up, move off the pump straight away and park in a bay rather than standing at the pump.
• In the evening, leave the lorry bays free. Professional drivers have mandatory rest periods and otherwise find nowhere to stop.
• Breakdown: hazard lights on, put on the high-visibility vest, get behind the crash barrier, then set out the warning triangle at a good distance. On the marker posts at the edge of the carriageway, a black arrow points to the nearest emergency telephone.

Before you set off: equipment, sticker, tyres, borders

The minutes you spend collecting the vehicle are the most valuable of the whole trip. Walk once around the car, photograph any existing damage, and settle the points below before you join the Autobahn.

• A warning triangle, a high-visibility vest and a first-aid kit have to be carried in the vehicle. Ask where they are and check that they are genuinely there.
• Low-emission zones: many cities admit only vehicles carrying the appropriate sticker. Which sticker counts and where the zone begins is set by each city itself. Check it for your destination with that city, because the rules change.
• Winter tyres are required according to conditions. What counts is not the date but the state of the road: snow, ice, slush.
• The Autobahn is toll-free for cars. If you carry on into Austria or Switzerland, a vignette is required there; check beforehand whether one is already on the windscreen.
• Alcohol: 0.5 per mille is the general limit. During the probationary licence period and for everyone under 21 the limit is 0.0, an absolute ban.