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We travelled to Munich in July 2023. We understood the Umweltzone (green zone) was within the R2 ringroad so we parked outside. When leaving in the direction of Austria, we took the R2. We saw the Umweltzone plates, but assumed they warned about the Umweltzone within the ring. We also saw a "plakat" mentioning that the Umweltzone was within the ringroad. So we drove on and then exited the R2 by taking the highway exit.

We googled afterwards and apparently since February of this year (2023) the ringroad R2 itself is also part of the Umweltzone. Lesson learned: never rely on third party info.

Anyway: we didn't get stopped but we did see unmanned cameras. Is there anything we can/should do? In our country of origin you can get a post hoc permission if you accidently drove through the low emission zone.

I understand we can only order a sticker for future use. Is that right?

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  • I've driven into Munich several times without the sticker (too much hassle for a foreign rental car, so paying the occassional fine is easier). Enforcement doesn't seem to be common, as I never got fined. But as long as your car is a low-emissions vehicle you've fulfilled the spirit of the law, so all good.
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Commented Jul 3, 2023 at 16:41
  • @JonathanReez-onstrike that's a relief! Well yeah it's a euro 6 diesel with adblue so would've been allowed. I'm a bit peeved about the whole thing - we did our research and still managed to miss an important piece of information. And there was a misleading sign on the 2R. This stuff should be crystal-clear
    – The Fox
    Commented Jul 3, 2023 at 19:45
  • @JonathanReez Really, they don't just bill the rental car company, who triples it and re-bills you?
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Jul 4, 2023 at 1:37
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    @Harper-ReinstateMonica they don't have automated violations detection - and as explained by helm below they need to actually stop the car while someone is driving it. I've done this 6 times without issue though of course YMMV.
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Commented Jul 4, 2023 at 1:41

1 Answer 1

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There's no automated checking. This would require a database of license plates storing whether the requirements for the sticker are fulfilled, and this doesn't exist.

Umweltzone violations are mostly detected and enforced by officials patrolling parked cars. If you were caught that way, you'd usually find a piece of paper under your wipers, telling you that an official fine is on it's way (via paper mail). Sometimes the information on how to pay is directly added, sometimes not. It is possible that the fine is still on its way even without a paper saying so on your car, but that's already less likely.

As you were never parked and only driving, it is extremely likely that you just got away with it. The only way I could imagine that this were detected is if you were also photographed by a speed trap and that photo is of sufficient quality to prove that there was no sticker present. But you would have noticed that flash, then.

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    This answer is missing a crucial detail: The fined offense is the act of having a motor running inside the LEZ without the proper paperwork. This means the authorities need to determine the offender, i. e. the driver who drove the car into the LEZ. Just from seeing a car parked on the street you cannot deduce who drove the car in violation of LEZ regulations. The mere presence of a car (motor turned off) without the proper stickers is not fined.
    – Kai Burghardt
    Commented Jul 3, 2023 at 19:31
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    Hmmm, such a database would actually be pretty easy to have - you have to register to get the sticker, after all. I'm happy that you actually have to get stopped by a human, though. I.e. very unlikely to get a fine. It's one thing to not do your research or even purposefully ignore the law. It's another to do your research, and still get fined for somr subtle nuance (and a misleading sign).
    – The Fox
    Commented Jul 3, 2023 at 19:48
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    @KaiBurghardt You are wrong. It is within the environment zone forbidden to "use the road" (in the official English translation of StVO) or in German: "Die Teilnahme am Verkehr ... ist verboten." This includes parking. Regardless of that, there are other German laws which are written to cover driving a vehicle, which are still applied to parked vehicles because jurisprudence allow the conclusion that if a car is parked somewhere, it can be assumed as proved, that the car has been driven there and not moved by other means, e.g. flown in by a helicopter.
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Commented Jul 4, 2023 at 7:06
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    @TheFox When you get the sticker, they only write your license plate number on the sticker, there is no one keeping track of who got a sticker or who didn't. At least when you get the German sticker in Austria at the ÖAMTC. Also if you change your windshield after breaking it, you would need a new sticker, even if you got one previously already or if you buy a different car and use the same license plate.
    – kirbby
    Commented Jul 4, 2023 at 7:40
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    @KaiBurghardt You do not get fined, however, you will have to pay for the (unsuccessful) determination of the driver's identity, see iww.de/quellenmaterial/id/229121 . The court can also force you to keep a driver's logbook for the next 6-12 months.
    – dasdingonesin
    Commented Jul 4, 2023 at 11:18

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