Driving in Germany

justback83

Hi all...I've been invited for a second interview in Germany next week - delighted. Only problem is, they've asked me to hire a car and drive from the airport (at their expense). I've been driving in Ireland )and Oz) for 10+ years but I've never driven in Continental Europe...would I be mad to jump in a car at the airport and head off??? It's a 2 hour drive from the airport to the company HQ.

biko

It will be fine.
Just use 10 mins to drive around the parking area to get used to the gears.
Use a GPS with English to direct you, it'll take the stress off.

Alun

I'm not trying to put you off driving if you want to, I've driven extensively in Germany as I lived there for a while, but depending on where you're flying to and where the interview is, Germany has a great train service. You'd also arrive a bit more relaxed and prepared for your interview if you did it that way, if you're feeling in any way nervous about the prospect.

justback83

Alun wrote: »

I'm not trying to put you off driving if you want to, I've driven extensively in Germany as I lived there for a while, but depending on where you're flying to and where the interview is, Germany has a great train service. You'd also arrive a bit more relaxed and prepared for your interview if you did it that way, if you're feeling in any way nervous about the prospect.

I would do that gladly but the train would take exactly double the time and I wouldn't get there on time...

justback83

biko wrote: »

It will be fine.
Just use 10 mins to drive around the parking area to get used to the gears.
Use a GPS with English to direct you, it'll take the stress off.

I was actually considering renting an automatic...!

CiniO

justback83 wrote: »

Hi all...I've been invited for a second interview in Germany next week - delighted. Only problem is, they've asked me to hire a car and drive from the airport (at their expense). I've been driving in Ireland )and Oz) for 10+ years but I've never driven in Continental Europe...would I be mad to jump in a car at the airport and head off??? It's a 2 hour drive from the airport to the company HQ.

Driving in Germany is generally much easier than in Ireland, but you'll need to know the rules of the road there, which differ a good bit from Irish ones.

Just got some good online guide about differences, learn and memorise them and you'll be grand.

Remember to always looks in the mirrors when changing lanes, especially on motorways, and assume people might be driving much faster than here in Ireland, so fact that someone in your mirror looks like he's miles away, doesn't mean he won't be overtaking you in few seconds.

Be careful with pedestrians on traffic light. If have a green light and turn (left or right) you might be going through pedestrian crossing where pedestrians also have green light. That's a big difference to UK or Ireland, where green light for cars, always mean red light for pedestrians.

justback83

CiniO wrote: »

Driving in Germany is generally much easier than in Ireland, but you'll need to know the rules of the road there, which differ a good bit from Irish ones.

Just got some good online guide about differences, learn and memorise them and you'll be grand.

Remember to always looks in the mirrors when changing lanes, especially on motorways, and assume people might be driving much faster than here in Ireland, so fact that someone in your mirror looks like he's miles away, doesn't mean he won't be overtaking you in few seconds.

Be careful with pedestrians on traffic light. If have a green light and turn (left or right) you might be going through pedestrian crossing where pedestrians also have green light. That's a big difference to UK or Ireland, where green light for cars, always mean red light for pedestrians.

Great, thanks - will look the differences up.

Australia also have the setup where you may have a green light but pedestrians also do...got a few raised middle fingers when I first got there!!

stezie

Take an up to date Sat Nav with European maps with you.

driving on the right isn't impossible, it just takes a little bit of getting use to... take your time leaving the airport, follow the car in front until you get your bearings, keep white lines to your left and youll be grand..

good luck with the interview!

justback83

stezie wrote: »

Take an up to date Sat Nav with European maps with you.

driving on the right isn't impossible, it just takes a little bit of getting use to... take your time leaving the airport, follow the car in front until you get your bearings, keep white lines to your left and youll be grand..

good luck with the interview!

I was also going to hire a GPS with the car...

AhHaor

Don't worry, I was in exact same position. Drove from Munich to Austria. Take a few mins to familiarise yourself with the car in carpark prior to going out.

I had downloaded offline maps for phone so didn't bother with GPS. They're fairly easy roads to drive on, but my rental car was a skoda citigo, 58 BHP isn't great for autobahns. Unless you're doing 200 stay away from the far overtaking lane or the AMG/M3/5 lane

MeDs Leinad

From my experience driving in Germany, you have to know that there are no speed limitations on their 'autobahn'.
In the fastest lanes there are cars driving with 200+ km/h
Depending if you are going in the North or in the South, the infrastructure is different.
In the Dortmund/Dusseldorf area there is a lot of traffic and more lanes, and how you go further south (Munich) there is less traffic and fewer lanes.
The far right lane is always used by the trucks and there are a lot of trucks on German roads.
Find a comfortable speed lane and always be aware of the incoming traffic.

Nekarsulm

A good Sat Nav and you'll be fine. Pulling out of cararks etc. especially on back/quiet roads remember "drive on the right"!
The busier the road, the harder to make this mistake.
If overtaking on the motorway, get back into the centre lane asap. Someone doing twice your speed will arrive behind you very quickly indeed.

CiniO

MeDs Leinad wrote: »

From my experience driving in Germany, you have to know that there are no speed limitations on their 'autobahn'.
In the fastest lanes there are cars driving with 200+ km/h

There might be cars doing 200+ km/h in other lanes as well.
It's not like that driving fast is only reserved to most left lane.

Depending if you are going in the North or in the South, the infrastructure is different.
In the Dortmund/Dusseldorf area there is a lot of traffic and more lanes, and how you go further south (Munich) there is less traffic and fewer lanes.
The far right lane is always used by the trucks and there are a lot of trucks on German roads.
Find a comfortable speed lane and always be aware of the incoming traffic.

Always, except from Sundays

Anyway - fact that trucks drive mostly on right-most lane, doesn't mean that cars shouldn't use this lane as well.

In short - everyone should drive on the right lane, and only move left when overtaking. That's what vast majority of drivers adhere to - nearly same as in Ireland.

justback83

AhHaor wrote: »

Don't worry, I was in exact same position. Drove from Munich to Austria. Take a few mins to familiarise yourself with the car in carpark prior to going out.

I had downloaded offline maps for phone so didn't bother with GPS. They're fairly easy roads to drive on, but my rental car was a skoda citigo, 58 BHP isn't great for autobahns. Unless you're doing 200 stay away from the far overtaking lane or the AMG/M3/5 lane

Feeling a little more at ease now, thanks! Could you tell me what app you used for offline mapping?!

serarra

Google maps can do it, but I like "here" maps. (If in Android)

jester77

MeDs Leinad wrote: »

From my experience driving in Germany, you have to know that there are no speed limitations on their 'autobahn'.
In the fastest lanes there are cars driving with 200+ km/h
Depending if you are going in the North or in the South, the infrastructure is different.
In the Dortmund/Dusseldorf area there is a lot of traffic and more lanes, and how you go further south (Munich) there is less traffic and fewer lanes.
The far right lane is always used by the trucks and there are a lot of trucks on German roads.
Find a comfortable speed lane and always be aware of the incoming traffic.

There are lots of speed limits on the autobahn, you need to be observant of the signs. You don't keep a comfortable speed lane, that's dangerous. Always keep to the right most lane, and move left when over taking. If someone is coming up fast behind them move right of it's free. Also be prepared to move left when passing exits so that cars entering on the other side can merge.

mdebets

MeDs Leinad wrote: »

From my experience driving in Germany, you have to know that there are no speed limitations on their 'autobahn'.

That's not true. While there is no general speed limit, more than 50% of all Autobahns have posted speed limits.
You also need to keep in mind that if you drive faster than 130 km/h, you are partial liable in cases of accidents.

mdebets

jester77 wrote: »

Always keep to the right most lane, and move left when over taking.

That's not 100% true. If you are on a 3 lane autobahn, you can stay in the middle lane, if there are cars on the right lane and you don't block any traffic. You can also choose lanes freely in cities and towns.

CiniO

mdebets wrote: »

That's not true. While there is no general speed limit, more than 50% of all Autobahns have posted speed limits.
You also need to keep in mind that if you drive faster than 130 km/h, you are partial liable in cases of accidents.

That's not true.
More than 50% of all Autobahns don't have posted speed limit.
Only 33% have permanent speed limit.

A 2008 estimate reported that 52% of the autobahn network had only the advisory speed limit, 15% had temporary speed limits due to weather or traffic conditions, and 33% had permanent speed limits.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn

CiniO

mdebets wrote: »

That's not 100% true. If you are on a 3 lane autobahn, you can stay in the middle lane, if there are cars on the right lane and you don't block any traffic. You can also choose lanes freely in cities and towns.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

What do you mean by "choose lanes freely"?


I think you are greatly misinformed.

biko

serarra wrote: »

Google maps can do it, but I like "here" maps. (If in Android)

Google won't do navigation if not connected to internet.
Here Maps should work offline but I've seen it too complain that it isn't connected.
Navmii is good and there's more on http://www.wired.com/2015/04/offline-gps-apps/

Boom_Bap

If you are changing into the fastest lane on the autobahn be very very careful, sometimes it's hard to judge how fast the cars in that lane are actually going, they can zoom up on you very quickly once you get into the lane.

Also, in built up areas, cyclists rule the road. Any time you are turning a corner you need to be watching for cyclists on the road and footpath, best to slow it down to a crawl when turning.

Pedestrians are very observant to lights, but if they step onto the road and the green man turns red, they have the right to finish crossing the road even if you have a green light.

mdebets

CiniO wrote: »

That's not true.
More than 50% of all Autobahns don't have posted speed limit.
Only 33% have permanent speed limit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn

I'll raise you another Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_in_Germany#Autobahns

German autobahns are famous for having no universal motorway speed limit, although slightly more than 50% of them have posted speed limits[14] and about 10% are equipped with motorway control systems that can show variable speed limits.[

JackHeuston

I'm pretty sure OP doesn't need to know the percentage of speed limited stretches of Autobahn in Germany.

OP, you'll be fine, just drive on the right and be cautious when moving to other lanes / making turns in cities.

justback83

JackHeuston wrote: »

I'm pretty sure OP doesn't need to know the percentage of speed limited stretches of Autobahn in Germany.

OP, you'll be fine, just drive on the right and be cautious when moving to other lanes / making turns in cities.

LOL - I intend sticking to the right/middle lane as much as possible...thanks guys!

mdebets

CiniO wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

What do you mean by "choose lanes freely"?


I think you are greatly misinformed.

I did my driving test in Germany and been driving here over 25 years.

In Germany, if you are in a built up area on a non autobahn street with more than 1 lane going in your direction, you can choose freely, on which of these lanes you are driving, you don't have to drive on the right and you can undertake on the right. The only restriction is if you have lanes with arrow markings that go into different directions at corners, you have to go in the direction of the arrows in your lane.

CiniO

mdebets wrote: »

I did my driving test in Germany and been driving here over 25 years.

In Germany, if you are in a built up area on a non autobahn street with more than 1 lane going in your direction, you can choose freely, on which of these lanes you are driving, you don't have to drive on the right and you can undertake on the right. The only restriction is if you have lanes with arrow markings that go into different directions at corners, you have to go in the direction of the arrows in your lane.

That's interesting theory.
Have you got any links which would confirm this (even in German)
?

donegal.

can anyone recomend a cheap car rental co. in germany ?

coylemj

I have editing rights in Wikipedia if anyone needs an article changed so that they can backup their opinions with 'facts'.

mdebets

CiniO wrote: »

That's interesting theory.
Have you got any links which would confirm this (even in German)
?

Have a look here at the StVO (Road Traffic Law) § 7 http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stvo_2013/__7.html (unfortunately only in German)

(3) Innerhalb geschlossener Ortschaften – ausgenommen auf Autobahnen (Zeichen 330.1) – dürfen Kraftfahrzeuge mit einer zulässigen Gesamtmasse bis zu 3,5 t auf Fahrbahnen mit mehreren markierten Fahrstreifen für eine Richtung (Zeichen 296 oder 340) den Fahrstreifen frei wählen, auch wenn die Voraussetzungen des Absatzes 1 Satz 1 nicht vorliegen. Dann darf rechts schneller als links gefahren werden.

justback83

donegal. wrote: »

can anyone recomend a cheap car rental co. in germany ?

I've also just been looking at this today - I'm limited to what's available in Munich Airport and think I'll go with Enterprise. Cheapest by far and €0 excess available...

CiniO

mdebets wrote: »

Have a look here at the StVO (Road Traffic Law) § 7 http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stvo_2013/__7.html (unfortunately only in German)

Thanks.
I'll have a look at that later with my German translator

hognef

stezie wrote: »

keep white lines to your left and youll be grand..

All lines are generally white in Germany, aren't they?

CiniO

hognef wrote: »

All lines are generally white in Germany, aren't they?

If there're both (white and yellow) you have to disregard white, and obey yellow.

mdebets

hognef wrote: »

All lines are generally white in Germany, aren't they?

Permanent lines are white, while temporary lines at roadworks are yellow. If you have white and yellow lines at roadworks, the yellow ones are the valid ones.

5uspect

Whatever about autobahns, yes they mostly have speed limits, When on single lane roads treat all junctions like roundabouts, always slow and check for any cars coming from your right, they have right of way even if you're on the through road.

dastardly00

I think you'll have no problem at all OP

I only have my full license a few years, and I've driven in Germany (Hamburg area) about 4 or 5 times in 2014/2015 due to work. I've driven a VW Golf, Ford Focus hatchback and estate, and a Peugeot 308 estate. All more powerful than my Ford Focus 1.4 petrol :pac:

As the others have said, get a sat nav and practice around the airport car park until you get the hang of driving on the other side of the road. Although in saying that, airports can be quite confusing to drive around at the best of times!

A couple of observations I have from driving in Germany:

• When joining a motorway, the 'merging' lane is quite short, so you need to be up to speed in order to merge. However I have found drivers in Germany to be very aware of this and are very accommodating i.e. they will move out of the right lane to let you merge in. Unlike a lot of drivers in Ireland....
• Also on the motorway, if a lane is closed up ahead (due to roadworks for example), you don't get a lot of warning beforehand. So if you see a sign saying that the lane ahead is closed, then change lanes.

coylemj

Do I recall correctly that on some of the lanes on the autobahn there are sometimes minimum speeds painted on the road within the lanes? So if you're in a lane and not going as fast as indicated, you need to move a lane to the right.

CiniO

5uspect wrote: »

When on single lane roads treat all junctions like roundabouts, always slow and check for any cars coming from your right, they have right of way even if you're on the through road.

That doesn't make sense.
You only treat roundabouts as roundabouts - not other junctions.

When joining roundabout marked with roundabout sign and yield sign (most roundabouts are marked that way) you have to give way to vehicles from your left (in other words vehicle already on the roundabout).

Priority to vehicles coming from the right on junctions, apply only to junctions of roads of equal importance.
That junctions would be mostly only in housing estates, etc... or if anywhere else, they would be marked with appropriate sign.
In all other cases, there is a major road junction with minor road, so cars on major road have priority.

Major roads are marked with this sign:


If you see that sign, it means you are on major road, and it will be major road until you turn into different road see this sign:

Nekarsulm

OP, you'll be absolutely fine. My first time driving on "The Right" was picking up a VW campervan near Hannover and heading southward. Managed the best, but I was nervous. The Sat nav which the seller threw in for luck, was very helpful in built up areas. Even though it took two days to figure out how to configure it to English. She would be shouting something at me in German, but I just followed the arrows on the screen

hognef

CiniO wrote: »

If there're both (white and yellow) you have to disregard white, and obey yellow.

Indeed. Hence my use of the word 'generally'. The occasional presence of temporary yellow lines doesn't change my original point though: Keeping the white line to your left won't help you.

hognef

CiniO wrote: »

Priority to vehicles coming from the right on junctions, apply only to junctions of roads of equal importance.
That junctions would be mostly only in housing estates, etc... or if anywhere else, they would be marked with appropriate sign.
In all other cases, there is a major road junction with minor road, so cars on major road have priority.

I wouldn't expect roads being signposted 'anywhere else'. You need to be aware of whether your road has right-of-way, in which case there will be signs to that effect. In the absence of signs, be prepared to yield to traffic approaching from the right.

justback83

Nekarsulm wrote: »

OP, you'll be absolutely fine. My first time driving on "The Right" was picking up a VW campervan near Hannover and heading southward. Managed the best, but I was nervous. The Sat nav which the seller threw in for luck, was very helpful in built up areas. Even though it took two days to figure out how to configure it to English. She would be shouting something at me in German, but I just followed the arrows on the screen

Great - gonna book a car and go for it!

I'm also gonna start a thread on moving to Germany...

Greyfoot

Ausfffaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrttt!

ironclaw

All Hail, King of the Signs.

jester77

dastardly00 wrote: »

I think you'll have no problem at all OP

I only have my full license a few years, and I've driven in Germany (Hamburg area) about 4 or 5 times in 2014/2015 due to work. I've driven a VW Golf, Ford Focus hatchback and estate, and a Peugeot 308 estate. All more powerful than my Ford Focus 1.4 petrol :pac:

As the others have said, get a sat nav and practice around the airport car park until you get the hang of driving on the other side of the road. Although in saying that, airports can be quite confusing to drive around at the best of times!

A couple of observations I have from driving in Germany:

• When joining a motorway, the 'merging' lane is quite short, so you need to be up to speed in order to merge. However I have found drivers in Germany to be very aware of this and are very accommodating i.e. they will move out of the right lane to let you merge in. Unlike a lot of drivers in Ireland....
• Also on the motorway, if a lane is closed up ahead (due to roadworks for example), you don't get a lot of warning beforehand. So if you see a sign saying that the lane ahead is closed, then change lanes.

You are meant to drive right up to where the lane ends and then the zipper merge will keep the traffic flowing.

CelticRambler

Not sure about the suggestion to do a bit of practice in the carpark first. Airport carparks can have all kinds of weird one-way systems "dual carriageways" and no left/right turn rules that bear no relationship to the real world, not to mention people (in hire cars :pac: ) doing crazy manoeuvres.

Familiarise yourself with the controls before you turn the ignition, then get yourself out onto proper roads in the shortest possible time where you'll have normal drivers putting things in context. And remember, leaving a carpark or filling station is where you're most likely to have a memory lapse as regards left and right. Otherwise enjoy the drive.

from_atozinc

ironclaw wrote: »

All Hail, King of the Signs.

What does it mean.

ianobrien

My usual trick to make sure I'm on the correct side of the road first thing in the morning or after collecting the car is to wait for a couple of seconds to make sure some traffic passes. Then follow him for a short while. That will make sure you are on the correct side of the road.

Before you go, try to drive here for a while using just your left hand on the wheel. It needs to get used to holding the wheel on its own. You'll need the right hand to change gear. Here you change gear with the left, and the right arm is used to holding/moving the steering wheel on its own. Also, you'll automatically reach for the door handle to change gear for a while.

Most important think of all, make sure you're ready for the interview. I find the STAR technique works for me.

jester77

from_atozinc wrote: »

What does it mean.

It means watch your mirror for BMWs coming up fast flashing their lights

justback83

ianobrien wrote: »

My usual trick to make sure I'm on the correct side of the road first thing in the morning or after collecting the car is to wait for a couple of seconds to make sure some traffic passes. Then follow him for a short while. That will make sure you are on the correct side of the road.

Before you go, try to drive here for a while using just your left hand on the wheel. It needs to get used to holding the wheel on its own. You'll need the right hand to change gear. Here you change gear with the left, and the right arm is used to holding/moving the steering wheel on its own. Also, you'll automatically reach for the door handle to change gear for a while.

Most important think of all, make sure you're ready for the interview. I find the STAR technique works for me.

Agreed - STAR is what they want to hear!