Traffic disruptions in road traffic due to installations and advertising; application for a special permit

You can apply for an exemption permit for the installation of equipment and advertising on public roads.

The German Road Traffic Regulations (StVO) stipulate that devices that resemble traffic signs or traffic facilities, can be confused with them or can impair their effect may not be installed or otherwise used where they could have an impact on public traffic. This is because private signs that look like traffic signs, for example, send false commands or messages to road users or prevent them from perceiving valid traffic signs. They therefore pose a risk to road safety.

Advertising and propaganda in connection with traffic signs and traffic facilities are also prohibited. Advertising/propaganda is designed to attract people's attention. However, with the speed of traffic today, any distraction, no matter how small, can have fatal consequences.

As the higher road traffic authorities, the governments are responsible for granting exemptions from the above-mentioned prohibitions in Section 33 (2) of the German Road Traffic Act (StVO).

• Written justification
• Picture or sketch of the facility
• Site plan

  (M 1 : 1,000 or 1 : 5,000)

There must be an exceptional case (§ 46 Para. 2 StVO). When granting exemptions under the StVO, it should be noted that such exemptions are only justified in particularly urgent cases. The authorities must weigh up the interests of the general public in terms of road safety against the interests of an advertiser, for example.

The reasons for granting the permit must therefore outweigh the reasons for issuing the statutory ban. Since the granting of the exemption also means accepting that the effect of a traffic sign is impaired, the interests of road safety in the specific case would have to be rated lower than the interests in favor of advertising. Cases are conceivable here in which an additional benefit for road safety is achieved (e.g. a traffic safety message associated with the regulatory purpose of the traffic sign). The specific location must also be taken into consideration.