Driving in Germany during the winter require that you have adequate tyres for the weather conditions. The options for winter tyres in Germany are winter tyres that are non-studded, and winter approved all-weather tyres. The only winter tyres that are allowed are the non-studded tyres. You are however not allowed to use studded tyres in Germany. Even if you are just travelling across Germany to get to another country, you are not allowed to do so if you have winter tyres with studs. This can of course cause some problems when travelling between two countries that allow it, if you need to cross through Germany to get to the other country.
In Germany you should have winter tyres without studs when you have winter conditions. If you are stopped with studded tyres, you will be fined and prohibited to continue driving until you have changed your tyres. The law states that you will need to have tyres with winter properties when you have snow conditions that are defined as snow, ice and slush plus slippery conditions caused by ice and frost. The tyres will need to have the Alpine symbol of a mountaintop with a snowflake inside it, also referred to as 3PMSF-symbol. Having M+S on the tyres is not sufficient for winter use.
Germany has a very good road network and is world famous for its Autobahn, which is known for the fact that it doesn’t have speed limits on certain parts. It covers some almost 13.000 km. If you don’t have snow or ice, you can manage with summer tyres according to the legislation. It is however always safer to change to tyres that are designed for winter as soon as the temperature drops below zero degrees. In Germany this gives you basically two options for safe driving. One is to change your summer tyres to winter tyres as the cold weather is approaching and then change back at the end of the cold season.
The other option is to go for all-weather tyres that can be used both during the summer and the winter, based on that they have the 3PMSF symbol and have been approved for winter use. Having all-weather tyres gives you the freedom to drive safely everyday regardless of weather. This is perfect for your family car where you want to have the optimal safety whenever you are driving. You might however not want to put these on your sports car, or if you do you probably want to change then during the summer to a high-performance summer tyre to get the most out of your sports car in terms of performance. If you don’t drive your sports car during the winter or if you are ok with not driving it when the weather is bad, then you can just keep the summer tyres on it.
If you are in areas with a lot of snow and a longer winter season, then it is always better to change between summer and winter tyres to make sure that you have the best performance during both the winter and summer season. Tyres are so important for the driving safety that it is always best to have the optimal tyre option mounted on your car.
For more information regarding winter tyres for Germany, visit: https://www.nokiantyres.com/