Your experience of driving in Germany will be coloured by your own motoring background. If you come from a lightly policed regime like, say, South Africa, you will find it tightly controlled. If you come from a driving culture where drinking and driving is largely a thing of the past you might find that while local laws are tough, local practice is fairly easy-going. But that is an observation, not advice. The legal limit is low and the penalties high. And wherever you come from there will be times on the autobahns when you will think: "How !?$!!/* fast was he going?!?" While having none of the swirling individualism to be found in warmer southern climes, Germany's traffic has its own character and it is certainly not short of rules and regulations. Driver's licence You should obtain a German licence within your first year of residence as delaying it past that time can make you subject to extensive and expensive local regulations. You need to take the following documents with you to the licence authority: Passport/Ausweis (identification papers) - originals and copies Your existing driver's licence - original and copy Certified translation of your driver's licence - original and copy One photo Completed application form Certificate stating when first licence was issued - original and copy An eyesight test - obtainable from all optometrists Certificate showing you have taken part in a first aid course Your Ausweis and driver's licence will be sighted and returned straightaway. You can get a certified translation of your licence from the ADAC or other government recognised translators. First aid courses are available at your local Red Cross station (Rotes Kreuz) It takes about two or three weeks to issue a German licence. You must attend in person to apply for a licence and one again to pick it up, showing your Ausweis. If you have held a licence for less than two years, you must comply with local regulations on trial driving licences and register your licence with the local licensing office within three months of establishing a permanent residence in the country. This licence has full validity - and if you commit certain traffic offences you will be made to take part in a driving improvement course. The driving licence authority in Berlin is at: Landeseinwohneramt

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