fritz:
Adam2S:
RC:

Re the factory collection - can anybody confirm just how strict the German police are about driving with summer tyres after the 1st Nov. This article is worrying me a little, but there is nothing I can really do about the delivery date or the tyres fitted, so....

https://www.wbs-law.de/eng/road-traffic-law-eng/law-winter-tyres-germany-48118/

You only get in trouble with German police if something happens and if something happens doesn't necessarily mean an accident but for example if traffic gets "disturbed" because you slow it down or if you cause a stop.

I would be much more concerned with your car insurance and not police. The German law is clear on winter tires. If something happens in Germany, I doubt that your car insurance will take it lightly. I suspect they would refuse payment, so be careful here. Also, if you damage a third party, your insurance could actually pay up and demand the money from you. Careful!

 

Cheers, so is the 1st Nov a black and white implementation of the Winter law?  I thought I had read elsewhere that it was just "wintery conditions", so providing it was mild and/or dry there wouldn't be a basis of an issue.

Also, just to nit pick but winter doesn't start until the 21st December in the northern hemisphere! I accept that argument wont stand up to either the police or the insurance company. Smiley

Suppose I could pay for a transporter to collect me and it at the factory gates and drop us off at the German border?

You linked to a lawyer's web site in your post which gives the legal position as follows:

"The statutory provisions on the obligation to fit winter tyres In Germany were updated in 2010. There is now a so-called ‘situational winter tyre obligation’.
This means that the obligation to run a vehicle on winter tyres does not apply with reference to a particular date, but instead depends on the weather conditions.
The winter tyre obligation applies in winter conditions including ice and black ice, frost, snow and slush."

The so-called ‘situational winter tyre obligation’ means that you are only liable to prosecution if "caught" without winter tyres in the winter season if winter conditions as defined above actually prevail at the time. If it were to snow before 1 November and you were caught on summer tyres, you could not be prosecuted. Similarly, if you were to be found driving on summer tyres after 1 November on clear road conditions, you would also not be prosecuted.

Since you would presumably have the car insured by a UK company, the lack of winter tyres should not be as much of a problem as RC suggests, as UK insurers are allegedly sometimes inclined to take the attitude that fitting winter tyres is a modification to the car's spec which they have to be advised of, and for which they might at their discretion charge a higher premium! Crazy, I know. 
 

 

Cheers Fritz, that it what I understood the sitatution to be.  Sounds workable to me given its early in the season - I just have to be sensible and not push the boundaries if Im unlucky with the weather.


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