Drum bun!

On roads covered with snow, ice or black ice every car needs winter tyres. In Romania tyres marked M+S (M.S., MS, M&S) count; tyres marked only "all seasons" do not.

Penalty: Class IV fine (9–20 points of 216.25 lei since 1 Jul 2026), and the police keep the registration certificate.

Ministerul Justiției (legislatie.just.ro) (RO)Ministerul Afacerilor Interne (RO)

Cars must carry an approved first-aid kit, two reflective warning triangles and a fire extinguisher. Motorcycles are exempt.

Ministerul Justiției (legislatie.just.ro) (RO)

No alcohol at all in the driver’s body. The limit is 0.0.

Wolters Kluwer copy of the official text (HU)

Hold the e-vignette before you drive onto a tolled section. Drivers who entered by mistake have 60 minutes to buy, but lose that option if they refuse to buy at a check. Enter the plate without spaces and choose country code RO; a wrong country code counts as no vignette. Wrong plates can be corrected (1,470 HUF), after a surcharge only within 60 days and only if at most 3 characters are wrong.

Penalty: Surcharge 27,790 HUF if paid within 60 days, 95,730 HUF after that. Cameras everywhere; for Romanian plates a collection agency in Oradea chases unpaid cases. A wrong plate or country code counts as no vignette.

Magyar Közút Nonprofit Zrt. (Útdíj) (EN)Magyar Közút Nonprofit Zrt. (Útdíj) (EN)Magyar Közút Nonprofit Zrt. (Útdíj) (EN)

Outside built-up areas cars use daytime running lights or dipped headlights at all times. Motorcycles use dipped headlights everywhere, always.

Wolters Kluwer copy of the official text (HU)

Hungary has no general winter-tyre rule. Under a "snow chains mandatory" sign, chains go on at least one driven axle (max 50 km/h). If the sign stands at a border crossing, only vehicles carrying chains may enter. Studded tyres are banned.

Wolters Kluwer copy of the official text (HU)Országos Katasztrófavédelmi Főigazgatóság (HU)

A digital vignette only counts for the plate and country registered. Correct typos for free before validity starts. After the start, only annual vignettes can be changed, for 18 euros; 1-day, 10-day and 2-month vignettes cannot.

Penalty: Substitute toll (Ersatzmaut) 200 euros for a car from 1 Jan 2026 (was 120). If it is not paid: fine of 300–3,000 euros. A wrong plate on a digital vignette counts as no vignette.

ASFINAG (EN)ASFINAG (EN)

From 1 November to 15 April, on snow, slush or ice, cars may only be driven with winter tyres on all wheels (marked M+S, M.S., M&S or with the snowflake symbol, at least 4 mm tread), or with snow chains on two drive wheels when the road is fully covered with snow or ice. Applies to foreign cars too.

Penalty: The ministry names 35 euros on the spot and up to 5,000 euros if others are endangered; the law (§ 134 KFG) allows up to 10,000 euros.

RIS (Bundeskanzleramt) (DE)oesterreich.gv.at (EN)Bundesministerium für Innovation, Mobilität und Infrastruktur (DE)

Austria checks its land borders with Hungary, Slovenia, Czechia and Slovakia. Carry an ID card or passport for everyone in the car.

European Commission (EN)

On motorways, as soon as traffic starts to come to a halt: the leftmost lane moves left, all other lanes move right, whether or not an emergency vehicle is near.

Penalty: Up to 726 euros; 72–2,180 euros if emergency vehicles are held up.

oesterreich.gv.at (EN)

Every driver carries a first-aid kit, motorcyclists too. Cars also carry a warning triangle and a high-visibility vest, worn when setting up the triangle or standing outside the car on a motorway.

RIS (Bundeskanzleramt) (DE)

Austrian environmental zones only affect goods vehicles (N1–N3). Private cars need no sticker.

Österreich Werbung (EN)