Germany → France

Driving in France when you know Germany

Differences first, worst-to-get-wrong first. Rules that match are folded away at the bottom.

Driving to France from Germany: what to check before you go

These are the key destination rules to check first. The comparison below shows every verified difference. Follow local signs and instructions on the road.

Which side of the road do you drive on in France?: In France you drive on the right.
What is the speed limit in France?: 130 km/h on motorways, 110 km/h on dual carriageways, 80 km/h on country roads and 50 km/h in towns and cities. Those are the national default limits, which apply where no sign says otherwise.
What is the drink driving limit in France?: The legal limit in France is 0.5 g/l. Drivers who passed their test recently are held to 0.2 g/l.
What do you have to carry in your car in France?: You must carry a warning triangle and a high-visibility vest. The vest must be within reach and worn if you leave a broken-down car on the road. Missing either is a 135 euro fine.

Read the full driving rules in France and the required car equipment in France .

Looking to rent a car? Rental agencies often have there own rules on driving ages and equipment, make sure you check with them before you travel.
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What's different (17)

Speed limit on the motorway

Critical

Germany · homeNo general limitNo general limit for cars. 130 km/h is the official recommendation, and going faster can mean sharing liability after an accident. Signed limits apply on many stretches.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destination130 km/h110 in rain. Lower limits are signed in tunnels and roadworks.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Speed limit on country roads

Critical

Germany · home100 km/hChecked 3 Aug 2026

France · destination80 km/hDepartments may sign 90 on some roads. Sections with two lanes in the same direction are 90 on those lanes.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

What you must carry in the car

Critical

Germany · home

Warning triangle
High-visibility vest
First aid kit

Triangle and vest under StVZO §53a. The first aid kit (DIN 13164) is required separately by StVZO §35h: www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stvzo_2012/__35h.htmlChecked 3 Aug 2026

France · destination

Warning triangle
High-visibility vest

The vest must be within reach and worn if you leave a broken-down car on the road. Missing either is a 135 euro fine.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Speed limit on a dual carriageway

Important

Germany · homeNo general limitRoads with structurally separated carriageways have no general car limit, like motorways. The 130 km/h recommendation applies. Signed limits are common.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destination110 km/h100 in rain.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Alcohol limit for drivers who passed their test recently

Important

Germany · home0 g/lZero alcohol for the two-year probationary period and for anyone under 21.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destination0.2 g/lFor the whole probationary period. In practice this means do not drink at all.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Youngest age you may drive

Important

Germany · home18 years17 is possible only in the accompanied-driving scheme, within Germany.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destination17 yearsLowered from 18 in January 2024. Under-18s may not drive outside France.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Turning at a red light

Important

Germany · homeOnly where a sign allows itOnly where a green arrow plate (Grünpfeil) is mounted beside the red light, only turning right, and only after a complete stop.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destinationNot allowedA complete stop is required at every red light. Cyclist exceptions are signed.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Age below which a child needs a child seat

Important

Germany · home12 yearsA child needs a seat until age 12, unless already 150 cm tall.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destination10 yearsA child under 10 must use a restraint suited to their size and weight.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Winter tyres

Important

Germany · homeRequired whenever the road is icy or snowyCondition-based, not date-based: winter tyres (3PMSF) are required whenever there is snow, slush or ice on the road, at any time of year.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destinationRequired where signs say soIn 34 mountain departments from 1 November to 31 March, marked zones require either four winter tyres (3PMSF marking) or snow chains on board. Zones are signed at their entrance.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

What a rider must wear or carry

Important

Germany · homeNothing beyond a helmetOnly the helmet is required by law. Protective clothing is strongly advised, and courts may reduce compensation after a crash if none was worn.Checked 2 Sep 2026

France · destination

Gloves
High-visibility vest
Reflective stickers on the helmet

Rider and passenger must wear CE marked gloves. A hi-vis vest must be carried on the rider or the bike and worn if you stop on the road after a breakdown. The helmet must carry four reflective elements: front, back and both sides.Checked 2 Sep 2026 · official source

How you pay for motorways

Important

Germany · home

None

Motorways are free for cars and motorcycles — the toll applies to trucks. A few tunnels and private roads charge individually.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destination

Toll booths
Electronic tolls with no barriers

Most motorways are tolled. Newer free-flow sections (A13, A14, A79) have no barriers — pay online or at a tobacconist within 72 hours, or fines follow the number plate.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Hands-free phone calls

Good to know

Germany · homeAllowedVoice control and mounted devices with brief glances are allowed.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destinationAllowed, with restrictionsEarpieces, earphones and headsets are all banned while driving. Only systems built into the car are allowed.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Who has priority at a roundabout

Good to know

Germany · homeTraffic already on the roundabout goes firstWhere the roundabout sign is posted, traffic on the circle has priority and you must not indicate on entry — only on exit. An unsigned circle falls back to right-before-left.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destinationDepends on the signsAlmost all roundabouts have give-way signs, so traffic already on the circle has priority. On the rare unsigned ones, entering traffic from the right has priority instead — Place de l'Étoile in Paris works this way.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Youngest age you may ride the smallest class of scooter

Good to know

Germany · home15 yearsUntil the 16th birthday the AM licence is valid only inside Germany.Checked 2 Sep 2026

France · destination14 yearsThe BSR (category AM) can be taken from age 14 and covers mopeds under 50 cc limited to 45 km/h. People born before 1988 need no licence for a moped.Checked 2 Sep 2026 · official source

Riding between lanes of slow traffic

Good to know

Germany · homeNot allowedWeaving between queued vehicles counts as overtaking on the right, which is banned. Passing on the left is allowed in theory but needs a full safe side gap, which a traffic jam rarely leaves. Using the emergency corridor (Rettungsgasse) is banned.Checked 2 Sep 2026

France · destinationAllowed, with restrictionsLegal everywhere in France since 11 January 2025, but only on motorways and dual carriageways with a central reservation, at least two lanes each way and a limit of 70 km/h or more, and only when traffic is in continuous queues on all lanes. Ride between the two leftmost lanes at 50 km/h maximum, 30 km/h if one lane is stopped. Two or three wheelers up to 1 m wide only. No overtaking other filtering riders.Checked 2 Sep 2026 · official source

Smallest motorbike allowed on the motorway

Good to know

Germany · home

Top speed at least 60 km/h

Framed as a design speed, not a vehicle class or engine size: only vehicles whose design speed is more than 60 km/h may use motorways and motor roads, so exactly 60 km/h is not enough. A 45 km/h moped does not qualify.Checked 2 Sep 2026

France · destination

Engine at least 50 cc
Power at least 4 kW
Top speed at least 45 km/h

The ban is by vehicle class: Code de la route article R421-2 lists cyclomoteurs among the vehicles refused access to motorways, with no figures of its own. The cited source is article R311-1, which defines a cyclomoteur as a two or three wheeler with a design speed of no more than 45 km/h, an engine of no more than 50 cc if petrol, and no more than 4 kW. A machine at exactly 45 km/h is still a cyclomoteur and stays off the motorway; one that is above ANY of the three caps is classed as a motorcycle and may enter, so a machine does not have to be above all three. Motor tricycles up to 15 kW and 550 kg unladen are also refused.Checked 2 Sep 2026 · official source

Whether police can fine you on the spot

Good to know

Germany · homeYesMinor offences up to 55 euros can be settled on the spot as a warning fine. Larger fines are billed — but drivers without a German address can be required to pay a security deposit immediately.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destinationYes — visitors must pay at the roadsideA driver who does not live in France must generally pay the fixed fine or a deposit immediately, and the car can be held until it is paid.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Known on one side only (13)

Speed limit in rain or snow

Germany · homeNot yet verified

France · destination

Motorway — 110 km/h
Dual carriageway — 100 km/h

Applies when rain or other precipitation is falling.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Speed limit for drivers who passed their test recently

Germany · homeNot yet verified

France · destination

Motorway — 110 km/h
Dual carriageway — 100 km/h
Country roads — 80 km/h

For the probationary period: 3 years after the test, or 2 with accompanied driving. Applies whatever the weather.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Height below which a child needs a child seat

Germany · home150 cmA child shorter than 150 cm needs a seat until age 12.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destinationNot yet verified

Youngest age a child may sit in the front

Germany · homeNot yet verified

France · destination10 yearsExceptions: a rear-facing baby seat with the airbag off, no back seats, no rear seatbelts, or the back full of other under-10s.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

When you must switch your headlights on

Germany · homeNot requiredRequired for motorcycles only. Cars need lights at night and in poor visibility.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destinationNot yet verified

Parking on the pavement

Germany · homeOnly where signs or markings allow itOnly where a sign or marking explicitly allows it.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destinationNot yet verified

Parking facing against the traffic

Germany · homeOnly on one-way streetsPark on the right edge in the direction of travel; one-way streets allow the left.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destinationNot yet verified

How far you must park from a junction or crossing

Germany · home

A junction — 5 m

8 m where a marked cycle path crosses.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destinationNot yet verified

What happens if you park wrongly

Germany · homeNot yet verified

France · destination

A fine
Towing

Obstructive parking can mean immobilisation and the pound, not just a fine.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

When winter tyre rules apply

Germany · homeNot yet verified

France · destination1 November to 31 MarchChecked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Snow chains

Germany · homeNot yet verified

France · destinationRequired where signs say soChains on the drive wheels satisfy the mountain-zone rule if you do not have winter tyres. A specific sign can make chains compulsory on a given road.Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Low-emission zones

Germany · homeIn many citiesAround 39 Umweltzonen, including Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Stuttgart. A green windscreen sticker is required, including on foreign cars — order it before travelling.Checked 3 Aug 2026

France · destinationNot yet verified

Typical fines

Germany · homeNot yet verified

France · destination

Holding a phone — fine from 135 EUR, 3 points

Checked 3 Aug 2026 · official source

Same in both (12)

Which side of the road you drive on — Right official source
Speed limit in towns and cities — 50 km/h official source
How much alcohol you may have in your blood — 0.5 g/l official source
Whether you need an International Driving Permit — Depends on where your licence is from official source
Which side you overtake on — Left official source
Holding a phone while driving — Not allowed official source
Priority to traffic coming from the right — Yes — traffic from the right goes first at unmarked junctions official source
Who must wear a seatbelt — Everyone, in every seat official source
Helmets on a motorbike or scooter — Required for rider and passenger official source
Largest motorbike or scooter you may ride on a car licence — Engine up to 50 cc · Power up to 4 kW · Top speed up to 45 km/h official source
Headlights on a motorbike in daytime — Required at all times official source
Emergency number — 112 official source