Germany speed limit „bei Nässe“ („by wetness“). Does snow count as wet?
In early April 2022, I was driving a car on a German motorway somewhere near the border between Hessen and Rheinland-Pfalz. The local speed limit was 100 km/h, with an additional speed limit 80 km/h bei Nässe (literally: „by wetness“), meaning when there is a layer of water on the road. It was freezing and lightly snowing at the time, but the snow did not stick to the road. I was driving around 95 km/h (like everybody else) and, when passing a static radar speed gun, saw a white flash indicative of a photograph being taken, suggesting I may have passed a speed limit and might expect a fine.
I was surprised, because air and road weren't wet; it was snowing, and I don't think snow is wet. Does traffic law enforcement consider snow as wet? There is a long discussion on this forum at verkehrsportal.de, but it seems everyone is speculating and nobody knows the answer.
During a charging break soon after the photograph was taken, I noticed that my front license plate was obscured by snow (so were all others), for which there is apparently a €5 fine — so perhaps the flash was not due to speeding but due to an obscured license plate (they can probably still tell the car through the Umweltplakat). So far, I have not received any letter for any fine.
Best Answer
Wetness does not comprise all kinds of precipitation.
- There are separate signs for snowfall (268), for black ice (
1007?30, 101?51), for fog (1007?61), smoke (1007?31), and for “wetness” (1053?35). The legislation therefore distinguishes between those states. - The entire street needs be covered by a layer of liquid water. Puddles or other patches of wetness do not matter. (German Federal supreme court decision of 1977?12?20, 4 StR 560/77)
- The road condition must be recognizable from the driver’s seat. Either it’s currently raining so the windshield is covered by (liquid) water, or there are other indications of the previously mentioned criterion.
I don’t think the speed traps are “smart” enough to determine partially obscured license plates or even wetness. The electric circuits simply measure the speed of any moving object in front of them and exceeding the limit releases the shutter. There’s usually an orange color filter in front of the flashlight so it doesn’t dazzle drivers (at night).
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