Speed feedbackGermany
An introduction to the traffic rules and road signs of Germany. Learn about driving, road safety and much more in our illustrated book, with answers to frequently asked questions.
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59. Speed feedback
Speed feedback is a traffic-safety system that measures an approaching vehicle's speed and displays it back to the driver. The display may show the measured speed together with a message, colour or symbol indicating whether the vehicle is travelling within the applicable speed limit.
Speed feedback displays are intended primarily to make drivers aware of their speed and encourage them to slow down when necessary. They normally serve a preventive or educational purpose rather than establishing a new speed limit.
Wikimedia.org • Sebastian Martin Dicke • CC BY-SA
What does a speed-feedback display show drivers in Germany?
A speed-feedback display gives an approaching driver information about their speed or a response to it. For example, Berlin’s school-route displays use a green smiling face for compliance and a red unhappy face for excessive speed. Such feedback should be read alongside the road’s legally applicable speed limit.
🔗 gesetze-im-internet.de • Germany StVO: §§3,39–42; Annex 2, sign 274; municipal display examples
🔗 berlin.de • Berlin: school-route speed-feedback displays, 23 October 2024
Does the number on a speed-feedback board set the legal speed limit in Germany?
Normally no. A reading showing your measured speed is not itself a new regulatory limit. The limit comes from applicable laws and legally prescribed fixed or variable speed-limit signs; a separate enforceable speed sign must still be obeyed.
🔗 gesetze-im-internet.de • Germany StVO: §§3,39–42; Annex 2, sign 274; municipal display examples
Is every speed-feedback board an enforcement camera in Germany?
No. Many feedback signs are installed for education and speed awareness. Speed enforcement may occur separately or nearby, so do not assume there is no enforcement; observe the legal limit regardless of whether you see a camera.
🔗 gesetze-im-internet.de • Germany StVO: §§3,39–42; Annex 2, sign 274; municipal display examples
🔗 berlin.de • Berlin: speed-feedback and road-safety data, 24 February 2025

Traffic rules
Germany