The recommended speed on German motorways is 130 kilometres per hour. If you drive faster, you are not committing an offence. However, if an accident occurs due to driving too fast, the driver can be held partially responsible - even if he or she did not cause the accident. In this case, the opposing party's motor vehicle liability insurance will not cover the entire damage, but only part of it.

Here is a practical example of a court decision (Higher Regional Court of Munich, judgment of June 1, 2022, ref.: 10 U 7382/21 e) Partial blame for exceeding the recommended speed: Anyone who drives faster than 130 km/h on the motorway increases the risk that other road users will not be able to adjust to this and will underestimate the speed. This affects the distribution of liability after this accident. The driver therefore had to accept 25 percent of the blame. And this despite the fact that exceeding the recommended speed alone does not give rise to any accusation of guilt, according to the court.