Cultural Differences – South Africa vs Germany

Information about the driving rules in Germany can be found on our Road rules page

South Africa	Germany
Driving on the left hand side	Driving on the right hand side. Right before left rule
Speed limits	The general speed limit (Tempolimit) on highways (autobahn) is 130 km/h. On most highways, the speed limit is dynamically controlled depending on the traffic conditions. It can also be unlimited.
Pass vehicles on the right and left	No passing on the right. It is illegal to pass a vehicle on the right. You must move into a left lane in order to pass. The pass-on-the-left-only rule is one of the things that make the autobahn work.
Traffic circles yield to the right	Traffic circles (Kreis) yield to the left, a vehicle already in the circle has right of way. You only use your turn signals when you leave the circle, and not when entering. When there is no sign to indicate it is a traffic circle, you handle it like a normal intersection and the right before left rule applies
Main roads have priority and side streets must yield	Side roads, unless you have a right of way sign on the main road, have right of way from the right.