Winter Tyres Now Compulsory in Germany!

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS EURO DRIVING FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
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New byelaw as of last week (26.11.2010).
In case of ice/snow/slush/graupel etc on the road, winter tyres must be fitted (if you want to drive):

  • all around on pass cars,
  • on driving axles of goods vehicles >3.5t and buses >8+1seats.
    Min thread 1.6mm
    No “winter period” is defined, so when it snows/freezes in September or April, you either have winter tyres or you wait for thaw.
    Fine is 40e, rising to 80e (+1pt) when you cause an obstruction to the traffic as a consequence of not having winter tyres. If you happen to have an accident without winter tyres, whether your fault or not, your share of guilt increases and liability of German insurer vanishes.

adac.de/infotestrat/reifen/w … geId=47712
adac.de/_mm/pdf/Winterreifen … _49073.pdf

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Hi Homo Faber,

That’s a great find mate and thanks for sharing it. :smiley:

I’ve had a read of the links you gave and they’re very informative IMHO.

You noticed that there’s no Winter period defined, but I found this in the first link, which may be of help :

Ein Zeitraum wie z.B. von Oktober bis Ostern ist nicht vorgeschrieben, wird von Sicherheitsexperten aber empfohlen.

My translation: A time period of Eg. October until Easter isn’t prescribed, but is (nevertheless) recommended by safety experts.

IMHO, that should be taken as valid guidance given that there’s no proper definition of Winter period.

:bulb: The ‘all weather’ tyres might be a good option if they have either the M+S mark, the three mountain symbol or the snowflake symbol.

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BRitPete will be along in a minute. :laughing:

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Is it me or is Germany becoming a right pain in the arse to drive in?! Fines for non standard tanks, fines for incorrect tyres, fines fines fines arghhhhhhhhhh. They make UK and VOSA look laid back.

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getting us back for winning ww1 and ww2 lol

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its all very well homofaber helping us out with that post but as switchlogic says germany and fines its getting crazy :imp: :imp:
i mean lets say somebody who’s not up to date with trucknet and its info :laughing: gets to the german border there are signs to say you need tax (maut) so you can buy it but what do you do for tyres? there’s not a handy tyre fitter at every border crossing is there :unamused: and i bet that the thousands of trucks entering every day haven’t all got winter tyres, imagine the cost for big fleets like betz or pekaes :open_mouth:
iknow my boss won’t be forking out for tyres just because the sausage eaters can’t drive properly :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

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well Folks if you wish to not observe the laws of the country you
are driving in or passing through,then be prepared for the trouble
and strife that follows,by the way its not only GERMANY but many other
'EU and non-EU country’s that have this rule,what’s cheaper obeying
the law or taking what follows after you have been found accountably
and forget the fines first of all, if you have or are involved in a accident
with injuries and damage they will take you to court and it will cost
much more than a set of tyres for the drive axle,

have a nice day folks :slight_smile:

by the way here in GERMANY for us with german plated vehicles
the insurance is void when we have summer tyres on in winter,

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i agree with you pete but i’m just pointing out that this info is not well publicised by the germans compared to the maut so you could arrive in germany and get fined without any way of rectifying the offence

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It’s just everything in Germany that’s the problem though, not just tyres. I know a driver who got fined for entering the motorway 10 minutes early. Others who have been fined for being slightly, very slightly off route for various reasons. It’s just a nightmare country to drive in, it’s endless overtaking bans and the stupidly low speed limits down fairly moderate hills are just infuriating. If I had my way I’d never go there again, but unfortunately its between here and Sweden, and I love doing Sweden.

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yes mate it has only been in a week but if you say come after Friday
THIS WEEK I believe they will DO you, by the way its law in many
country s in the bloody small print about winter but its there try looking
for example in the FRENCH laws its there as well as regards winter weather
and the right equipment we all know what its like by
LYON AND FURTHER IN THE DIRECTION of SPAIN in WINTER,

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IMHO “little white men” won’t collect 40e from day one at random checks, instead they’ll focus on 80e collections from stucked drivers.

Winter tyres are not magic but they do help. Good example can be last Monday in CZ - no general obligation of winter tyres, blue sign “winter gear required” is in place instead; snowed heavily on Monday, according to the news, 446 accidents across the country on that single day, 2x more than usual (and it’s only those accidents attended by police), 4 dead, 80 injured. Main motorway D1 between Prague and Brno is all signedposted as “winter gear required”, traffic as on any other Monday, gritters nowhere (as usual), very slow and solid at places due to snow and visibility but: single one accident on those 200km!

Many companies from central, eastern and northern Europe already either run on all-weather tyres or swap summer/winter. In D, CZ, SK when you get your winter set the garage (can) take your summer one into storage, then in spring you turn up and get your summer set and leave winter one there.
Big companies are on tyre service contracts - so they probably don’t even own the tyres on their trucks :slight_smile: let alone worry about them, somebody else does.
All in all, it’s not that much hassle as it seems

switchlogic: you forgot to mention dreiundzwanzigkilometerstau-type announcements on radio :slight_smile:

PS: the Germans only ask for 1.6mm thread; SK requires 3mm on winter tyres

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HomoFaber:
IMHO “little white men” won’t collect 40e from day one at random checks, instead they’ll focus on 80e collections from stucked drivers

Hi HomoFaber,

I think that the way things seem to be heading in Germany is that die weißen Mäuse and the BAG will be after both lots of fines.

I do think that Pete has a good point, because the lack of a tyre marking is a nice easy ‘nick’ when there’s nothing else for them to find. :frowning:

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Just a thought on this new legislation. Surely it can legally only be enforced on German registered vehicles? My understanding is that under EU law, as long as a vehicle complies with the laws of the country it is registered in, then it is perfectly legal for it to travel in any EU country without the need for modifications!

It would be interesting to have a proper legal opinion on this.

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GBPub:
Just a thought on this new legislation. Surely it can legally only be enforced on German registered vehicles? My understanding is that under EU law, as long as a vehicle complies with the laws of the country it is registered in, then it is perfectly legal for it to travel in any EU country without the need for modifications!

It would be interesting to have a proper legal opinion on this.

The new laws on winter tyres are under STvO (strassenverkehrsordnung, german highway code),which applys to evreybody and not the STzO (strassenzulassungsverordnung, German construction and use), which covers vehicles registered in Germay

I. Winterreifenpflicht in § 2 Abs. 3a StVO
Seit Samstag, den 4. Dezember 2010 gilt die Winterreifenpflicht nach § 2 Abs. 3a StVO n.F.
Als Winterreifen gelten alle M+S Reifen. Auch Ganzjahresreifen fallen darunter. Sie sind mit einem M+S Symbol gekennzeichnet, teilweise auch in Verbindung mit dem Bergpiktogramm mit Schneeflocke (Alpine Symbol). Schwere Nutzfahrzeuge (Busse und Lkw der Fahrzeugklassen M2, M3, N2 und N3) müssen auf den Antriebsachsen Winterreifen aufziehen. Die übrigen Reifen auf den anderen Achsen haften durch ihre spezielle Gummi-Mischung - etwa den hohen Naturkautschuk-Anteil - bei Winterwetter besser als etwa ein Pkw-Sommerreifen. Sie sind dadurch grundsätzlich für den Ganzjahreseinsatz geeignet.
Ahndung von Verstößen gegen § 2 Abs. 3a StVO n. F.
Die Regelsätze für Bußgelder bei Verstößen sind verdoppelt worden. Beim Fahren ohne Winterreifen bei Glatteis, Schneeglätte, Schneematsch, Eis- oder Reifglätte werden nach Nr. 5a BkatV 40 Euro, statt bisher 20 Euro fällig. Bei Behinderung anderer Verkehrsteilnehmer fallen 80 Euro, statt bisher 40 Euro an. In beiden Fällen erfolgt der Eintrag eines Punktes im Verkehrszentralregister.
Diese Regelung gilt für alle Kraftfahrzeuge. Dazu gehören auch Motorräder.

“Dieses Regelung gilt für alle Kraftfahrzeuge” This law applys to ALL vehicles

My advice, Dont pay the BAG ,conterey to misbelief to what i sometimes read on this forum the BAG have absolut nothing to do about what type of tyres you have on your truck, they are only resoponsible for Maut and driving Hours, if they find anthing else they may call the Police or customs

There will almost certinly be court cases over loop holes in the law in the near future,and my advice if you have to pay a fine for using summer tyres in winter, write on the receit “BEZALHT UNTER VORBEHALT” this way if a court in the future over rules the law ,you can get your money back.

Geoff

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gbtransp:
The new laws on winter tyres are under STvO (strassenverkehrsordnung, german highway code),which applys to evreybody and not the STzO (strassenzulassungsverordnung, German construction and use), which covers vehicles registered in Germay

I understand what your saying, and this is why I beleive it is illegal for Germany to enforce this on vehicles which are road legal in there registered country. Whilst I am not the greatest fan of the EU it would be good to see how this pans out if it does go to court.

Good advice from you Geoff about writing on the receipt.

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it would be good to see how this pans out if it does go to court.

I Will let you know when it happens, and only charge a small fee to get your 40€ back. :smiley:

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But what about Vienna convention?

There it’s said that if vehicle is legal in country of registration, the other countries has to respect it even if it’s against their rules.

There was a case some years ago that Germans were fining Polish drivers for not having a first aid kid (which is not mandatory in Poland).

The outcome was that they apologized for it and returned all paid tickets.

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First aid kit is one thing, tyres another.

Convention On Road Traffic Done At Vienna On 8 November 1968

Annex I
7. Contracting Parties may make it a condition for the admission to certain
difficult roads or to certain areas of difficult terrain in their territories in
international traffic of motor vehicles with a permissible maximum mass exceeding
3,500 kg, that such vehicles shall comply with the special requirements laid down
in their domestic legislations concerning the admission to such roads or areas of
vehicles of the same permissible maximum mass registered by them.

Annex V
54. The wheels of motor vehicles and of their trailers shall be fitted with
pneumatic tyres ensuring a good adhesion,

Elegant way how to bypass Vienna Convention is by a traffic sign, those apply to everybody, everywhere. Such as in CZ they’ve invented “winter gear required” sign, blue disc with car and snowflake. Winter gear includes winter tyres, if you don’t have winter gear you cannot legally drive beyond the sign. Similar for signs telling you to use snow chains. If cops get you without gear/tyres beyond the sign, you won’t be fined for not obeying German/CZ/whatever law on Vehicle Construction and Equipment, but for not obeying a traffic sign. And if you ■■■■ up, then it will be infringement/crime due to recklessness or negligence; Vienna Convention won’t cover you for driver is obliged to adjust the speed to state of the vehicle and state of the road. Driver knows what tyres he’s got and also knows what snow/ice is. “Adjusted speed” is also a zero speed.

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That’s answers my question, thank you.

But then… You can always put a sign “accidents likely, first aid kits required” … :slight_smile:

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…and the convention online in full

unece.org/trans/conventn/crt1968e.pdf

you don’t need to be a lawyer to work out that vehicle construction & equipment rules apply only to vehicles registered in a particular country but rules of the road apply to everybody.
Hence you can argue about first aid kit, but not about speed limit - or winter tyres in this case.