Germany Legally Clarifies Winter Tyre Requirements
Even though 87 per cent of German motorists fitted winter tyres last year (according to figures from the motorists’ organisation ADAC), the absence of laws detailing the finer points of their usage has baffled some drivers. This ambiguity has now been addressed. “We are now introducing a concrete version (of winter tyre requirements) into legislative procedure and, with this, certainty of law for our roads,” commented Germany’s transport minister, Peter Ramsauer. “We are defining what will be deemed a winter tyre in the future.”
The new additions to Germany’s Highway Code make clear that the term ‘winter tyre’ applies to winter and all-season tyres bearing the M+S symbol. Motorists are now legally obliged to have these tyres fitted when driving on hard-packed snow, slush, black ice and frost covered roads. The minority of German motorists who continue to spurn the use of winter tyres will now also face tougher penalties for flouting the rules: 40 euros for being caught driving on summer tyres, and double this fine for causing traffic delays. In both cases, the guilty parties will also lose a point from their driving licenses.
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