Driving in Europe - experience share

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I was in Berlin back in August in my old Alfa 145, and upon arriving at the campsite in the city centre, I asked where I could buy one of these stickers... the guy looked at me, laughed, and said "don't bother -no one else does!"

TBH in happened to us as well in Stuttgart and Ulm. They were not really interested but better safe now for 5 Euros instead of a 40 Euro fine each time!
 
So various fines are payable, apart from being pulled by a police car/bike the rest will be ANPR - are these being enforced?
 
Forgot the emissions disc ... IIRC ours came from the local TUV centre and I don't think it cost anything at the time. Had to produce a copy of the V5.
 
On the Autobahns, the germans generally love to tailgate especially on de-restricted sections, even if they can see ahead that there are several cars in front wanting to do the same. Much the same here in most cases but the difference is most are doing 160kph +.

Basically, If they're pushing you, they want you to push the car in front also or else move to the right and brake as you're likely going quicker (not good practice IMO), otherwise don't be intimidated and when it's clear in front of you, either you floor it and blow them away (that's if you can of course) or move to the right.

Had an interesting high speed experience on my recent summer trip to munich in my E500 when a CLS63 blew me away. I was cruising at around 165kph in outside lane (right lane at slower pace) when this came up behind me real quick! At this point I could'nt make out what it was, all I could see was the 3pointed star on the grill. At this point 2 cars were in front of me cruising at the same speed, so I either move to the right in the slower traffic, brake and let him through or punch it when it clears in front. I went for the latter and punched it! I hit 230kph but he was still up my **se. "S***, I'm gonna have to move over", I'm thinking. I did when the right lane cleared and thinking, "this better not be a diesel!" Suddenly I heard that 7Gtronic downshift roar and he passed me me with a lady in the passenger seat happily putting her make up on. Cheeky eh!

Germans think nothing of such speed whatsoever! Especially in Autobahn cruisers like, S/class' , A8's and 7series
 
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Nearly all of my Euro touring has been on two wheels rather than four, but I'm in agreement with the comments posted previously. The French are much more strict on speeding than they were the past. Have all your documents to hand too - I've been stopped twice in France by police at the roadside who were just pulling cars / bikes at random to check they were insured etc.

The derestricted sections on the Autobahns in Germany are great fun - my bike (Honda Blackbird) has a 'natural' cruising speed of about 130mph, but I tend to take a good long look in the mirror before pulling out for an overtake as there is always something going a lot faster than that. Fortunately, adding another 30 or 40mph on a big bike doesn't take very long....even at those speeds.

Nice bike ;)
 
Germans think nothing of such speed whatsoever! Especially in Autobahn cruisers like, S/class' , A8's and 7series

Good news - the car I'm taking has a published top speed of 175mph, so good sport should be had!! :bannana:
 
Germans think nothing of such speed whatsoever! Especially in Autobahn cruisers like, S/class' , A8's and 7series
Most of the nutters seem to be driving very ordinary saloons - BMW 3 Series, Audi A4, etc. Even a base model 318 will do 130, and an A4 1.8 will do 140 mph!
 
All good advice. But I guess I'll ad my 2c worth:

THe Umwelt ("LEZ") zones in Germany may not be widely enforced but for the sake of 10 minutes at an MB dealership, I bought one for my c230k using an original V5C. It costs EUR5.50 and is valid for the life of the vehicle. Foreign cars are assessed differently to German Cars AND the rules for PETROL cars are DIFFERENT to DIESEL cars. Pay attention. The relevant information is here...

http://www.berlin.de/sen/umwelt/luf...lteplan/download/Umweltzone_Broschuere_en.pdf

Headlamp stick on beam deflectors are useful too. There are rules about what equipment has to be carried in the car and speed limits. Naturally, each country does things in a slightly different way. The AA advice for foreign touring is very good.

And finally, in the words of Charlie Croker : Just remember this - in this country they drive on the wrong side of the road.
 
As above. No point pushing it but as the speed limit can be as high as 80mph (130kph) on some roads, what's the problem

Plus it makes such a difference when they overtake and pull back in, means you can pretty much do 80mph your whole journey.
You are not being wound up by some dip****e sitting at 59mph in the outside lane because he is overtaking a lorry doing 56mph 1/2 a mile down the carrigeway.

It makes journey times so much shorter.
 
Oh well, so much for motoring tours of German cities in future.
 
So various fines are payable, apart from being pulled by a police car/bike the rest will be ANPR - are these being enforced?

The enforcement is ithe responsibility of the Police, Local Authorities and... Traffic Wardens. Now in someone else's country, isn't it best to abide by the rules and regulations? Im not speculating on the chances of getting fined or on the standards of enforcement but for EUR5.50 or thereabouts it seems a little silly not to do it. You only need to get one once (unless you change the vehicle registration).

Les
 
Oh well, so much for motoring tours of German cities in future.

w124's can be retrofitted with DPFs in order to gain a green badge. Unfortunately it is likely to cost alot of money (like EUR 1,500). So not really worth doing. In this circumstance, the EUR40 fine is the better option!
 
I prefer fines of zero myself.
 
The enforcement is ithe responsibility of the Police, Local Authorities and... Traffic Wardens. Now in someone else's country, isn't it best to abide by the rules and regulations? Im not speculating on the chances of getting fined or on the standards of enforcement but for EUR5.50 or thereabouts it seems a little silly not to do it. You only need to get one once (unless you change the vehicle registration).

Les

I wasn't questioning the morality of the issue just curious about how it would be enforced for visitors from overseas.
 
Driving in Europe is great fun. It's an experience I cannot wait to repeat. Another thing. Take care as they do drive on the other side of the road. Observation observation and more observation is needed
Last time I looked Scotland was part of Europe. :D
 
Cologne is one of at least 32 German cities that operate a Low Emission Zone Badge system in City Centres and other named areas. The rule applies to ALL cards regardless of where they come from.
Costs can vary on this 4 colour badge system depending on the type of car. I think Berlin is the cheapest and UK visitors can get one on-line by scanning in the V5 details and payment details.
If a valid sticker is not displayed in the windscreen then a fine will be issued.
Just one one of those little European things that can sneak under the radar!!!
Do a seach on Low Emission Zones Germany for more info.

Steve B.

When I went to Germany I didn't bother with this and never got a fine, I did get a parking ticket as I didn't have one of those clocks that display what time you parked, but it got promptly ignored and never heard anything from that either.
 
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