No stopping and no parking in Germany: rules and fines explained

The essentials first: what you need to do

Before you stop or park in Germany, check three things: is there a no stopping or parking sign on your side of the road? Are you in a spot where the law itself bans stopping or parking without any sign? And do you need a parking ticket or a parking disc? The rules are set out in the Road Traffic Regulations, the StVO, mainly in § 12 on stopping and parking and in Annex 2 on regulatory signs. The law uses the word Haltverbot, while in everyday speech many people say Halteverbot. Both mean the same thing.

The most important basic rule: anyone who leaves their vehicle or stops for longer than 3 minutes is parking. This distinction decides whether you may still stand briefly at a spot or are already breaking a parking ban.

Stopping and parking: the StVO definition

Stopping means halting briefly, for example to let someone get out. As soon as you get out and walk away, you are parking, however short your absence. If you stay in the car, stopping also becomes parking after 3 minutes.

This has practical consequences: a parking ban allows brief stops. A no stopping ban, on the other hand, forbids stopping itself, either entirely or with exceptions, depending on the type of ban.

Restricted and absolute no stopping

The StVO imposes no stopping bans along the road with signs 283 and 286. There is also the restricted no stopping zone covering a whole area, with sign 290.1 at the start and sign 290.2 at the end.

Absolute no stopping: you may not stop here at all, not even for a moment.

Restricted no stopping: for the zone marked with sign 290.1, the StVO puts the rule like this: anyone driving a vehicle may not stop for longer than 3 minutes, except to let people in or out or to load or unload. Briefly dropping someone off or unloading shopping is allowed, but leaving the car and walking away is not.

Where the signs apply

According to Annex 2 of the StVO, the bans set by signs 283 and 286 apply only on the side of the road where the signs stand. They apply up to the next junction on the same side of the road, or until another sign for parked traffic sets a different rule. The start of the restricted stretch may be marked by a white arrow on the sign pointing towards the carriageway, and the end by an arrow pointing away from it. Where signs are repeated along the stretch, one arrowhead points towards the carriageway and the second away from it.

In the zone marked with sign 290.1, restricted no stopping applies on all public traffic areas unless signs or traffic devices say otherwise. Supplementary plates may permit parking within marked areas, for example for residents with a parking permit or with a parking ticket or parking disc.

Where stopping is banned without a sign

Under § 12 paragraph 1 StVO, stopping is not permitted:

• at narrow points and where visibility is poor,
• near sharp bends,
• on merging and diverging lanes,
• on level crossings,
• in front of and within officially marked fire service access routes.

On top of these come bans from signs and markings that many drivers overlook:

• Pedestrian crossing (sign 293): no stopping on the zebra crossing and up to 5 m before it.
• Advisory cycle lanes: you may not stop on advisory cycle lanes marked with a broken line. You can recognise them by the bicycle symbol painted on the road at regular intervals.
• St Andrew’s cross (sign 201): no stopping up to 10 m before the sign if your vehicle would hide it.

Where parking is banned without a sign

Even without a sign, parking is banned in many places:

• Junctions: before and after junctions up to 5 m from the points where the carriageway edges meet. Where a physically separate cycle path runs on the right of the carriageway in the direction of travel, the distance before junctions is up to 8 m.
• Driveways: the StVO bans parking in front of or opposite entrances and exits to properties.
• Bus stops (sign 224): no parking up to 15 m before and after the stop sign for regular buses and school buses.
• Level crossings (sign 201): no parking up to 5 m before and after the St Andrew’s cross in built-up areas, and up to 50 m outside built-up areas.
• Solid lines (signs 295 and 296): you may not park on the carriageway if fewer than 3 m of lane would remain between your vehicle and the solid line.
• Trailers: trailers without a towing vehicle may not be parked for longer than 2 weeks. This does not apply in appropriately marked car parks.

Parking on the pavement

You may park on pavements only where sign 315 permits it. Even then, vehicles with a maximum permitted weight above 2,8 t may not park there. You must follow the parking arrangement shown on the sign. Supplementary plates may restrict the permission, for example by duration, by vehicle type, to residents with a parking permit or to parking with a ticket or parking disc. A supplementary plate with a wheelchair symbol reserves the area for entitled severely disabled people and blind people.

Parking tickets, parking discs and paying by phone

In a managed parking zone (sign 314.1 at the start, 314.2 at the end), you may park only with a parking ticket or parking disc, unless stopping and parking are banned there anyway. Residents with a parking permit may be exempted by supplementary plates. Permission to park applies only if the ticket, disc or permit is clearly legible and displayed.

How to set the parking disc correctly

Where a supplementary plate requires a parking disc, for example in a restricted no stopping zone, in a managed parking zone or with signs 314 and 315, stopping and parking are permitted only:

• for the time shown on the supplementary plate, and
• if a parking disc that is clearly legible from outside is displayed in the car, with its pointer set to the half hour mark following the time you arrived.

So you do not set your exact arrival time, but always the next half hour.

Paying by app

You do not need to use a parking meter or ticket machine if parking fees and parking time are also recorded electronically, in particular via in-car parking meters or mobile phones. This does not apply, however, if the electronic system is not working. So if the app fails, you will need a parking ticket after all.

Fines for stopping and parking offences

The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport lists the following amounts. The tougher fines for parking and stopping have applied since 9 November 2021. The amending regulation behind them was published in the Federal Law Gazette on 19 October 2021.

• General stopping or parking offence: up to 25 euros.
• Parking at narrow points, where visibility is poor or near a sharp bend: 35 euros.
• Unauthorised parking in a disabled parking bay: 55 euros.
• Unauthorised parking in a bay for electric vehicles or car sharing vehicles: 55 euros.
• Improper use of pavements, cycle paths on the left and hard shoulders: up to 100 euros.
• Parking on pavements and cycle paths, stopping on advisory cycle lanes, double parking or stopping in the second row: up to 110 euros.

Please note: the ministry gives up to 100 euros for using pavements in one place and up to 110 euros for parking on pavements and cycle paths in another. For a pavement offence, therefore, expect the higher amount.

When you risk a penalty point in Flensburg

For double parking or stopping, stopping on advisory cycle lanes or parking on pavements and cycle paths, 1 point is added to the driver fitness register if:

• other road users are obstructed or endangered,
• property is damaged, or
• the vehicle is parked on the pavement or cycle path for longer than 1 hour.

According to the ministry, the offence is established by the competent local authorities.

Emergency corridor

Anyone who uses an emergency corridor without permission, for example to drive through a traffic jam, is prosecuted in the same way as someone who fails to form one. Fines range between 200 and 320 euros, plus a 1 month driving ban and 2 points in the driver fitness register.

When are cars towed away?

Neither the StVO nor the Federal Ministry of Transport’s guidance on the fines catalogue sets specific conditions under which wrongly parked vehicles are towed away. The decision lies with the competent local authority. Spots where a parked car obstructs others are especially risky: fire service access routes, driveways, pavements and cycle paths, the second row and areas with mobile no stopping signs.

Do not confuse the two: when the StVO talks about towing, it mainly means one vehicle towing another that has broken down. The rules here are: a vehicle that has broken down on the motorway must leave the motorway at the next exit when towed. A vehicle that has broken down off the motorway may not be towed onto it. Both vehicles switch on their hazard lights, and motorcycles may not be towed.

Exceptions

• Electric vehicles and car sharing: a supplementary plate with sign 286 may permit parking for electric vehicles or car sharing vehicles within the marked areas. Other vehicles pay 55 euros there.
• Residents: with a parking permit, residents may be exempted from the parking ticket or disc by a supplementary plate.
• Severely disabled people: supplementary plates with a wheelchair symbol reserve spaces for entitled persons.
• Postal services: vehicles emptying post boxes may park briefly, even in the second row, within 10 m before or after a post box if no other suitable space is available and proof is clearly displayed in the vehicle.
• Special permits: the StVO provides that exemptions are possible from, among other things, stopping and parking bans, the ban on parking in front of driveways and the rules at parking meters and ticket machines.

Checklist before you set off

• Put a parking disc in the car and remember: set the pointer to the next half hour after arrival.
• Check that your parking app works; otherwise keep change or a card ready for the machine.
• When parking, check the signs on your side of the road back to the last junction, including mobile no stopping signs.
• Respect the distances that apply without signs: 5 m at junctions and zebra crossings, 8 m before junctions with a separate cycle path, 15 m at bus stops.
• Never stop on pavements, cycle paths, advisory cycle lanes or in the second row: up to 110 euros and possibly 1 point.
• Use disabled, electric car and car sharing bays only if entitled.
• In a restricted no stopping area, stay for no more than 3 minutes or only to let people in or out or to load and unload, and stay in the car.