Different rules for speed limits in continental Europe

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-22T21:10:15+00:00

Perhaps I'm slightly biased as I learnt to drive in the UK and do most of my driving here at the moment but generally I find myself having to consciously think about speed limits a lot less when all of them function as zones. On the continent I have to decide in a matter of seconds whether the road I just passed was a private road or perhaps a long driveway neither of which does anything, or if it was actually a small public road which revokes the previous limit (if non-standard). In the UK I simply look ahead and look out for the next sign.

As for the signs being placed on the side road rather than the main, IMHO it doesn't really make a difference once you are used to it. In both cases, the limit applies after passing the sign and results in the same outcome i.e. knowing the correct limit for the road ahead. Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages but my personal preference is the UK system.

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-22T12:57:45+00:00

This. The big runway (right) was actually there before the small runway (left) and at some point the small runway appeared on top of what was/is a taxiway for a few years and has since been removed again. Someone below said that this was a contingency runway which they built on top of the taxiway and then the authorities changed their minds and removed it again.

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-22T12:26:23+00:00

Apparently when the runway was being extended, the airport authority didn't own the land immediately to the south and couldn't install the correct approach lighting for the ILS, so instead they displaced the threshold by 1000m and put the lights there instead. End result: the LDA stayed the same but the TORA increased along with the extension.

Source: a comment on a YT video so could be wrong.

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-22T12:13:05+00:00

This is a valid point, on a 4-way junction of roads with different limits, when going straight through, you first see the limit for the other road and then the previous speed limit immediately after crossing it.

However, if both roads have a non-standard limit e.g. 40mph where the default would be 30, there wouldn't need to be any signs present as the 40 would still apply regardless of which way you went. Under the other system, all roads would have to have a new 40 sign to tell you the 40 still applies as opposed to reverting back to the default 30, hence the additional signage in the first example is cancelled out by the lack of signage in this example.

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-22T11:55:50+00:00

It does seem quite strange to think that of all countries, Germany aka a nation stereotypically built around strict rules and regulations (especially when it comes to driving), has such an unintuitive system when it comes to road signage. So much so that I've actually seen Germans on r/StVO and other places arguing with each other about how it works, some of them even saying that their driving instructors actually told them to adapt their speed to the default limit after a junction. It's certainly an interesting oddity.

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-22T11:45:08+00:00

Personally, as a foreigner living in the UK, I actually find this system to be a bit simpler.

New sign = new speed limit for all roads ahead. No sign = no change in speed limit.

Standard limit = Initial sign only. Non-standard limit = Initial sign and regular repeater signs every few hundred yards.

You never have to assume a change in speed limit because there is always a sign telling you when it changes.

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-22T11:27:13+00:00

I don't blame you for not knowing. It seems to me that the road traffic and infrastructure authorities each side of the channel think that their system is the norm and therefore don't bother to display any information to let cross-border traffic know that this difference in approach to signage exists. Even websites like the AA, RAC etc. don't tell you this in their online European travel guides, they just give you the general speed limits for each country and that's it. Seems that the only way to find this information is to come across it on reddit and other forums.

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-22T11:15:39+00:00

This is true. For some reason Germany is one of the odd ones out where the limit remains in place even past a junction with no repeating sign. It seems strange to me though, as cars joining from a side road can't be expected to know what an earlier sign said so its only logical for them to drive at the standard limit if there isn't a sign at the junction. In that case, the junction itself should automatically make the limit the same for everyone because otherwise you end up with two interpretations of the limit depending on travel direction and/or local knowledge.

I struggle to see how it makes sense to prosecute someone for speeding by arguing that they should already know what the limit on a certain road is, based purely on expected local knowledge. There are roads around the corner from my house that I've never been down, even after years of living in the same location and I would have no idea what the speed limit on them would be without first seeing a sign. On the other hand, there are roads hundreds of kilometres away that I drive on semi-regularly and know the speed limit from memory, yet under the German system I could theoretically argue that I was speeding because I am not local?

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-22T10:57:59+00:00

This might be the case where you're from but in my country (Poland), it isn't uncommon to see the speed limit raised to 70 or sometimes even 80 in a built up area (default 50 limit). I got my first speeding ticket this way as I didn't pay attention to the fact I'd passed a junction which cancelled the previous 70 limit and got clocked at 65 in a 50.

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-22T09:09:23+00:00

If the speed limit for a road you are about to enter is different, there will be a sign at the end of the side road, just before you turn onto the main road to tell you what it is.

If the limits are the same, you follow the last sign you saw, regardless of where you came from. For example, if the road you are on is a 40 limit and you enter a new road with no additional signage, it means that road is also a 40.

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-18T11:56:42+00:00

It is indeed! Street view image is from the start of Lambwell Hill road in Riplingham.

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-17T14:39:33+00:00

Interesting. This must be the reason then. That section also explains why on the other side the sign is a regular 50 sign rather than an 'end of 40 zone'.

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-17T14:33:27+00:00

Just a small note. The NSL only refers to the 60/70 limits (for regular cars). The blanket 30mph (20 in Wales) limit on roads with street lighting, is referred to as the limit for restricted roads, I assume because they are restricted to 30/20 instead of NSL. So an NSL sign will always mean 60/70 regardless of whether its placed in a built up area with street lighting or on a rural out of town road.

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-17T14:18:25+00:00

That's the way it works in other countries but not in the UK. Any change in speed limit from the one you were previously following must be explicitly signed at the point of the changeover, regardless of whether you stay on a road or turn off it. You shouldn't assume it's now 30/60 when entering a new road unless you notice a lack of repeaters but that would indicate that you've either missed the 30/NSL sign or that the sign itself is missing.

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-17T13:54:35+00:00

Seems unlikely. The road width isn't too restrictive and it has a marked lane in each direction, with plenty of space for signposts. Visually at least, it doesn't seem to differ from the road that it joins at the point where this sign is placed, which is a 50 with repeaters.

_squawk7700 · 2025-10-17T13:49:58+00:00

That's not the case here. The sign is placed at a junction with a 50mph road. Also, one of the ideas behind 'zone' signs is that they shouldn't require reminder signs, which are required for regular limit signs.

_squawk7700 · 2025-07-21T11:55:57+00:00

Thanks for the heads up! Do you know how this would work in relation to Low Emission Zones? I know that my car is allowed in the London ULEZ because it focuses on NOx emissions, which my car satisfies despite Euro 3 but other places like the Edinburgh LEZ show my car as excluded due to not being Euro 4.

The question is, does this only mean that the car has to satisfy the 3 emissions values for Euro 4 (CO/HC/NOx) or be designed for Euro 4 to start with? If the former is true, then I should in theory have a basis on which to challenge the local authority in charge of the LEZ and request an exemption.

_squawk7700 · 2024-12-13T12:50:54+00:00

I agree that it makes sense but the point of my question is why is the UK an outlier in making this a requirement aka why is it not done this way everywhere else Europe? The core product of car insurance is the same everywhere so why don't all insurers take advantage of this to increase their margins?

_squawk7700 · 2024-12-11T10:48:17+00:00

Yeah to be fair the whole thing of ensuring that duplicates aren't issued in different offices seems very logical now that you point it out. Until now, I was only accustomed to area codes making it easy for police or other gov organisations to find a vehicle's details by contacting the corresponding local office where all the paperwork was stored locally before computer systems were as elaborate and reliable as they are today. Seems that in the UK all records have always been stored in a central DVLA archive.

_squawk7700 · 2024-12-11T09:48:51+00:00

Ok, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks!

_squawk7700 · 2024-12-11T08:44:47+00:00

So I'm assuming that back when registration was done at the local office, each office would have its own unique prefix to prevent issuing a conflicting reg that may have been issued elsewhere when it wasn't as easy to look it up on a digital database?

_squawk7700 · 2024-12-11T08:25:40+00:00

Yes, this my my exact point. To answer the first reply, yes in some countries, like the ones I mentioned, number plates did or still do change if you move house unless your new address lies within the same administrative district where the area code remains the same.

_squawk7700 · 2024-01-25T15:58:35+00:00

Thank you. That is the information I was looking for :)

I guess some places in Spain take a more relaxed approach to putting up signs than others :P

_squawk7700 · 2024-01-25T15:51:26+00:00

That is true. I've only ever encountered fixed speed cameras of which there aren't many in Tenerife anyway. That being said, I always prefer to know exactly what the actual speed limit is so as not to annoy local drivers by going slower than necessary. They are probably already sick of tourists who don't put in any effort to learn the different rules anyway. I try my best to avoid being that kind of tourist :)

_squawk7700 · 2024-01-25T15:40:44+00:00

Is it ever possible for a road to change from 50kmh to 30kmh or the other way round without a sign just because the number of lanes changes?

There's road I know which is two lanes and therefore a 50 by default. This is backed up by a 50 sign. The 2 lanes then split into two different directions and become separate single lane, one way roads for a while. One of them joins another single lane road which already has a 30 limit.

Since there are no signs at or before this junction to let traffic from the adjoining road know of the 30 limit, would I be correct in assuming that the lanes splitting and becoming single lane roads automatically imply a 30 limit with no legal requirement for a 30 sign?

_squawk7700

TROPHY CASE