Short answer – Don’t break the rules.

Long answer – Know the rules. When moving to, or travelling in a country different from your own it is important to acquaint yourself with the basics. Ignorance is no excuse and your mistake could end up being very costly.

From the outside looking in, a country where adults always obey the green man and everyone has ‘just in case’ insurance (Haftpflichtversicherung – personal insurance) Germany can seem like a very straight laced and orderly place. This is partly down to an attitude of Vorsicht ist die Mutter der Porzellenkiste (caution is the mother of the china box/better safe than sorry), and partly that Ordnung muss sein (there must be order) is such an important principle of happiness in daily life.

There ARE speed limits on the German Autobahn – This sometimes comes as a surprise to people but there are plenty of stretches of Autobahn that have speed restrictions. Dangerous stretches of road, bad weather, night time (due to the noise to nearby towns), add to that the seemingly constant road works and Staus (traffic jams) that litter the Autobahn it can be hard to find a decent place to ‘test out your car’ like Hyde.

It wasn’t until I was travelling with German friends (who almost constantly drove above the speed limit) that I found out the fines for doing up to 20km/h over the speed limit are only up to 35€ and do not incur any points for the driver. I was very surprised to hear my serious professional friends have all had multiple tickets for driving just under 20km/h over the speed limit. They all regarded this kind of speeding as perfectly normal and the occasional ticket is just how it is.

You might be surprised to know that the fines for speeding are overall quite small compared to other European countries and whilst the jump to 21km/h over the limit will damage your pocket considerably more, to lose your licence permanently requires significant speed. Speed traps are common and the photographic evidence will follow you to other countries along with your fine.

Don’t be a Schwarzfahrer (fare dodger), just buy a ticket – Public transportation in Germany is much cheaper and efficient than back in the UK, there are also very frequent ticket checks, especially at peak times. There is standard 60€ flat fine for not having a valid ticket on a train/tram/bus (ouch) and on receipt of three fines your details will then be passed onto the police.

My old commuter S-Bahn home from Stuttgart – Photo – Alie

If you have made a genuine mistake, forgot your season ticket, been confused by the system and purchased the wrong ticket inspectors do have some discretion. I have been sat next to German friends who pretended to be English, and got away without a ticket, though I think this one only works if you’re in deepest darkest Austria. If you find yourself having to pay a fine in Berlin however, Erin has some useful first-hand guidance for you.

Cycling has rules too – If you cycle regularly you should definitely read up on these. Again there is a sliding scale for the perceived ‘dangerousness’ of the activity. Riding on a pavement, the wrong way on a bike path or cycling whilst wearing headphones could cost you anything upwards of 10€, whilst jumping a red light could be more like 100€ and drunk cycling could cause you to lose your driving licence (should you have one, or have points added to one you get in the future if you don’t).

I’ve so far got away with a warning, for cycling the wrong way down a one-way street, I was fairly new to Germany (and spoke less German than the average German toddler) and I don’t think the policeman wanted the hassle of fining a confused foreigner. Friends have been less lucky though, with large fines and evenings spent in the local police station worrying about just how big and bad their punishment would be.

Use your Parkscheibe (parking disc) – In certain areas this disc allows you to park for two hours (sometimes more) for free, as long as you display your disc so that it is visible through your windscreen. The disc allows you to display the time you arrived in half hour increments (so you may possibly be able to push your time a little over, but shhh keep it to yourself) and as long as you leave before your time runs out you won’t receive a fine. You can pick up a disc from a petrol station, newsagents, supermarket or you can even print one off at home and put it together yourself. No disc or an unreadable disc then you risk getting a fine.

My parking disc, on my car, you will usually find one in the glove box or door pocket of any rental vehicle – Photo – Alie

Downloading is not worth it – Downloading films, music and other copyrighted media is illegal in Germany and the potential fines are huge. There is a booming economy in lawyers who will minimise your fines and criminals sending fake fines in the hope that they will catch people out. As always make sure your Internet is secure because you are responsible for what gets downloaded under your name. Streaming on the other hand is more of a grey area; any TV addicts would be well off reading this post written by our very own German Way TV addict.

Of course there are many more rules and regulations out there, as there are in every country, Germany is not a utopia of non rule breakers even though it may seem that way sometimes.

-Alie