driving in the Eifel - winter tyres required ?
 

Will be in Germany in 10 days, flying into FRA then driving into the Eifel (specifically Gerolstein). All the hire car companies want extra $$ for winter tyres (typically £20 per day) - will they be required ?

Should note that we won't be driving the scenic routes - it's straight in and out the most direct way.

thx

Yes, they are required. There is no law, that you need them, but if you have an accident without winter tires an a road with snow, the insurance will not pay.

We are awaiting a heavy snowstorm all over the country this weekend, temperatures will stay below freezing point all week and by next weekend wintery conditions will not be over. Driving without suitable tyres would be sheer madness.

I do not understand how come car rentals are not forced to equip their cars properly without charging extra.

Indeed. It's like Delta charging for ALL bags flying from Canada to the US where NO carry-on bags are allowed anymore.

I further don't understand the relationship of Americans to winter tires. My GF lives in Lafayette, Indiana. They routinely get a lot of snow. Less than Wisconsin probably but more than Germany. Almost nobody there uses winter tires AND the roads are worse here than in Germany to start with.

On the summer side things are no different. I live in Texas and just taking a 20 mile drive from Austin to Round Rock you can see tons of blown out tires along the road (highway). In Germany you can travel for hundreds of miles and see not a single blown out tire.

Tires are the most important thing on your car together with the drivetrain, brakes and steering wheel. It's what connects you to the road. They are totally disregarded as a safety feature.

Till

And the winter wiht alot of snow is here. We ahve deep minus degrees and quite alot of snow form "Daisy". Over 200 flights had been cancelded yesterday on FRA.

Please make sure that your rental car has winter tires. Not only for insurance reason also for your personal security. But if you have not booked it in advance it might be a problem to find a rental company which has car available.

Road conditions in 10 days are most likely snowy, so winter tires are advisable. If you get stuck on a road and obstruct traffic with summer tires, there's an on the spot fine of EUR 40 plus one point against your license - not sure though if the point is being enforced against foreign licenses. I think they can increase the fine in that case, not sure though.

The polizei can stop you at any time (no probable cause needed) for a routine traffic check. If they find that you do not have winter tires, you can be fined on the spot. You might get off the hook with a rental car, but maybe not.

I don't understand how rental companies can legally rent cars without winter tires? How can they knowingly allow one of their customers to drive one of their cars with a known safety violation?

thanks for all replies/advice
 

I understand that it's both legally and logically necessary to get winter tyres.

I don't understand, asetch5895 and Kathrin say, how the rental companies can get away with it. I have hired cars in Austria in winter and they all (Sixt, Avis, Hertz) include winter tyres in winter. Out of FRA, they are all demanding extra for them. :mad:

Sixt in Austria charges you a mandatory fee of two Euro per day for winter tyres on top of their by far higher rates. Mercedes E-Class in an Austrian downtown location (normal Sixt front page web rate) is 212,93 Euro, the same car for the same day in a German downtown location (normal Sixt front page web rate) 140.00 Euro plus non mandatory 16,00 Euro for winter tyres. Why does everybody believe that one gets anything for free on this globe? You need to pay for everything, even if 2 Euro a day appears to be cheaper than 16 Euro a day.

So, will they charge extra for headlights, seat belts and fully functional brakes soon? Shouldn't a rental car be equipped according to what the law and street safety require?

Winter tyres are not required by law in Germany (I believe it is different in Austria). In Germany the driver is only required to "adjust" his/her car to the "current weather situation" (§ 2 Abs. 3 a StVO). In several parts of Germany you hardly have a real winter and I appreciate that I have a choice when arriving in DUS, CGN or TXL to say "Yes" or "No". Sixt in Austria forces me to "buy" winter tyres during the mandatory period (November 1 to April 15) may there be "winter" (= snow) or not.

Assuming we follow your proposal that all rental cars have to have winter tyres you can bet that the prices will be higher. Of course they "charge extra" and this extra charge can be on the bill as an extra charge or included in the general rates. What is the differnce? As the customer you have to pay for it.

Perhaps I should have made clear that I don't understand how/why the rental companies can hire out a vehicle without winter tyres as standard, given that there is a legal requirement to adjust the car for the prevailing conditions. I realise of course that nothing is free, but for the rentals that I've been looking at (typically mid-size from airport locations) I find Austria to be cheaper than Germany, even with the 'obligatory' winter tyres.

I actually find that Avis make no mention of winter tyres at all out of FRA... will they be included as standard, or not available ? Any ideas..

Let me tell you what I do with Sixt: I generally rent a car without winter tyres. As soon as I got the keys (and we have got winterly conditions) at the counter all I do is a quick check whether or not there is "M&S" written on the key ring (in most cases there is). If so, I got my winter tyres for free. If not, I simply turn around and tell them I made uo my mind and would prefer a car with winter tyres. If have paid for winter tyres only once in my life....

Avis: At least on their German language website their are pretty clear:

Good Point. Many cars will have them installed, regardless of whether you actually pay the fee. You can also examine the tires; if there is a raised snowflake on the tire sidewall, you have winter tires. Your rental might also have all season tires, which are not as good in the snow as winter tires, but they meet the legal requirements and are better than summer tires.

Confused yet? ;)

Many cities in Germany do not get much, if any snowfall as has been pointed out. Even when they do, the public works departments tend to be very aggressive in clearing the roads (of course the autobahn and bundestrasse highways are first priority). It might not make sense to rent a car with snow tires if you are going to be doing all city driving in Frankfurt or Dusseldorf, or Berlin. However, surprise snowstorms do happen and as stated, the law requires you to have the proper tires for the weather conditions. I can think of people all over Europe right now who probably wish they had winter tires on their cars. If you are going to be around the mountains, or driving in the states of Bavaria or Baden-Wurtemburg, it would probably be a good idea to get the snow tires for peace of mind.

Another point to remember (safety-wise) is that winter tires are generally made with a different rubber compound than summer and all-season tires. Winter tires are specifically formulated to work at lower temperatures than summer tires are.

I recently rented with Europcar in MUC and I paid extra for snow tires. Didn't think to rent sans winter tires and check to see what was mounted on the car. Good tip!