All guides
Driving through a tunnel: lights on, keep your distance
1 min read · Updated on October 17, 2026
Tunnels are narrow, dark and have no hard shoulder. That’s why special rules apply there.
Vereinfachte Erklärung zum Lernen – keine Rechtsberatung. Verbindlich ist die Straßenverkehrs-Ordnung (StVO).
The rules
In a tunnel:
- Switch on dipped headlights – even during the day
- Keep enough distance
- Don’t turn around and don’t reverse
- Don’t stop, except in an emergency
If you break down
Switch on your hazard lights, drive into an emergency bay if possible and use the emergency phone.
Keep going
More guides
- Right before left – simply explainedWhen the right-before-left rule applies, when it doesn’t – and how to use it safely at junctions.
- Driving roundabouts correctly: indicating, priority, exitingWho has priority in a roundabout, when do you indicate and how do you exit safely?
- Right of way in Germany – all rules at a glanceFrom traffic lights to signs to right before left: the order in which right-of-way rules apply.