Today, I made a 550 km trip (6 hours including breaks) from northern Germany to central Germany. This inspired me to write this small guide for everyone planning to use the Autobahn in the future.

So you're currently in Germany (or planning on going) and have access to a car. That means that, sooner or later, you'll probably make use of the Autobahn system, whether you've planned on it or not.

The Autobahn system is a high speed road system spanning all of Germany with a total length of 13172 kilometers and connecting most if not all regions for quick travel using individual transportation.

There are some rules when using it. Some are written, for example in the road code (StVO), some are unwritten. This small guide is meant to prime you for driving in Germany if you're visiting, but – at least from what I've witnessed today – some people using it frequently could also more than use a refresher on this. Let's begin.

The basics

Speed limit

The Autobahn technically has no speed limit. That means, everywhere you see Zeichen 282 when you are on an Autobahn or Autobahnähnliche Straße (that means at least two lanes each direction with a physical barrier in the middle), you can go as fast as you want or as your car can go. Most of the time, this will not be possible, because of the weather, because of traffic, because of safety concerns, or because you might have other people in the car that you're taking responsibility for.

I say there's technically no speed limit, because there's something called the Richtgeschwindigkeit of 130 km/h. This is the recommended travel speed that you can adhere to, but you don't have to. However, if you're involved in an accident and you've been going above 130 km/h, you will probably be found partially at fault, if the insurance companies find that the accident could've been avoided if you had been going 130 km/h.

However, on most Autobahn sections, there will be posted speed limits of 130, 120, 100 and sometimes even 80 km/h. The reasons can vary wildly, they don't always make sense, but it's better to adhere to these limits as it's for your own safety and the safety of other road users. I also guess you probably don't want to ruin your day and/or vacation by thinking about a speeding ticket you might get. There are sometimes also "undercover"/Zivil cars of the Autobahnpolizei (Highway patrol) in traffic which might have a Pro Vida system that can bust you for speeding and/or not adhering to the minimum following distance laws even if there are no speed cameras. You used to be able to spot them by the specific types of cars they were driving, but the Police has expanded their vehicle pool in recent years so that's not a safe bet anymore. (It used to basically just be BMW and Mercedes-Benz Diesels, sometimes Audi A6, but now they even have things like Ford Kugas in their portfolio).

There also might be some "Zusatzzeichen" (additional signage) that will tell you if a speed limit is for example only for trucks, only in a certain time frame (a popular example is 100 22-6h Lärmschutz (noise protection)) or only when the road is wet (Bei Nässe). Please familiarize yourself with this because I got brake checked pretty hard multiple times today because "bei Nässe" is not common in foreign languages.

Merging

The vehicle merging onto the Autobahn has to give way and find a spot to merge in. This can be difficult in situations where traffic is busy or if the traffic is moving fast. The general recommendation that's being taught in driving schools to this day is, if you're in a manual car, to put it in 3rd gear and floor it to speed up fast enough to merge. If you're in an automatic, just floor it, the "kickdown" function will do the hard work for you. You will not break your engine by doing this, it was designed to be run like this every once in a while. If it would, the manufacturer would have put the redline at a significantly lower RPM rate.

Do not stop at the end of the on-ramp if you didn't make it, use the shoulder to gain more speed to merge. This is technically against the road code, but if you stop at the end of the on-ramp, you might risk your life and the life of others, because people generally do not expect a stopped car there.

Lane discipline

In Germany, we have Rechtsfahrgebot. That means, always use the rightmost lane available to you. It's really as simple as that.

If the Autobahn you're on has three lanes, the rightmost lane is packed with trucks going 90 km/h, and you're in the middle lane at 120 km/h, you're in the process of passing and that's ok. Then, if a car with a trailer going 100 km/h comes up in the middle lane, you're ok to dip into the left lane to pass this car, but should make sure you go back one lane to the right after you've finished passing and given the car in the lane to the right of you some following distance. A common rule of thumb is that if you can see both headlights of the car you've passed in your rear view mirror, you're ok to switch the lane.

However, when doing this, please make sure to carefully watch your mirrors and check the blind spot! For example: My car is 26 years old and has the base engine, but it can (and it will) go 200 km/h with enough run-up. You might not expect this kind of speed from a car that old and small. If you're now switching to the left, I would have to do an emergency braking maneuver and there might be an accident.

It is not okay to hog the middle or left lane going under the speed limit (even going the speed limit really), and it's absolutely not okay to hog one of these lanes if it's an unrestricted section of the Autobahn. You will anger many drivers which might lead them to undertake you (passing you on the right which is also illegal). It might also just generally make them really mad. If you're not used to the 130+ km/h speeds of the Autobahn, that's fine – we get that it might be unusual for you! May I suggest staying on the right, between the trucks, in that case? They usually go between 80 and 100 km/h, and usually maintain a constant speed which will help you save fuel and the environment. You might feel safe in the middle lane of a wide Autobahn, but trust me, it is really not safe at all, you're making it worse for yourself.

Leaving the Autobahn

You should signal that you want to leave the Autobahn at 300 meters before your off-ramp, there are blue signs on the right that will tell you the distance. When merging off, please do not brake while you're still in the right lane – the off-ramps are sufficiently long for you to slow down enough to the recommended 50 km/h.

It's recommended to not start a new overtaking maneuver within 1.5 to 2 km before your exit (the signs will be clear enough when it will come up).

If you find yourself in the middle of passing while your exit comes up, do not, and I repeat do NOT try to cut across multiple lanes to make your exit. This is really dangerous and will especially anger truck drivers because most trucks nowadays have auto emergency braking. You will get another chance, just use the next exit. You'll be fine.

The unwritten rules

Most of these things are optional and you don't have to do it as in it's not part of the road code, but you might make people happy doing them.

• If someone tries to merge into your lane (while merging onto the Autobahn or passing a truck etc.) and the lane to your left is free, it's common courtesy to switch there for a brief moment to allow the person to merge/pass.
• If you're in a slow/weak car it's common courtesy to give faster drivers an opportunity to pass, even if you're in the middle of passing multiple slower vehicles.
• If multiple cars are waiting to pass a truck/slower vehicle, the first person in the queue should be allowed to pass first. Sadly, even many Germans tend to forget this.

If you've got more, write a comment. Safe travels!