Verkehrszeichen und Verkehrseinrichtungen - Signs and Markings
This domain tests whether you can read the signs that decide whether your combination may enter a road at all. For an agricultural vehicle the decisive information is often on the small supplementary plate below the main sign.
Prohibitory signs that matter
- Zeichen 250 (no vehicles of any kind) and Zeichen 251 (no motor vehicles) - a tractor is a motor vehicle, so 251 blocks you unless a plate exempts you.
- Zeichen 253 (no motor vehicles over 3.5 t) - the limit refers to the actual gross weight, including load and, where stated, the combination.
- Zeichen 262 (actual length over ... m) and Zeichen 263/264 (weight per axle / per axle pair) - these catch long tractor-trailer combinations and heavy slurry tankers.
- Zeichen 260/261 (Kraftfahrstraße / Autobahn) - closed to tractors.
- Zeichen 267 (no entry) and Zeichen 220 (one-way street) - a one-way street may be entered only in the arrow direction.
Supplementary plates
- 'Landwirtschaftlicher Verkehr frei' exempts agricultural traffic, which means vehicles used for agricultural purposes - not a private car or a hobby tractor on a Sunday drive.
- 'Anlieger frei' covers only residents and people with business at a property on that road.
- A plate applies only to the sign directly above it, and only as long as that sign applies.
Markings
- Zeichen 295 (continuous line) may not be crossed; Zeichen 340 marks a pedestrian crossing, where you must allow crossing pedestrians to pass.
- Zeichen 293 (arrows) show lane direction; with a wide implement you may need two lanes and must accept that the arrow you need may be the outer one.
- Holding lines and stop lines must be respected even when the road looks empty.
Worked example
A narrow village road carries Zeichen 253 with the plate 'Landwirtschaftlicher Verkehr frei'. Your tractor and loaded trailer weigh 7.5 t. Is the road open to you? Yes - the supplementary plate exempts agricultural traffic from the weight prohibition, and the 7.5 t therefore does not block you. Reasoning: the plate modifies the prohibition itself rather than replacing it; without the plate you would be barred. The exemption is about the purpose of the journey, so a private trip with the same vehicle would not be covered.
Traps that cost marks
- Reading the weight on the tractor only, not the laden combination.
- Assuming a plate exempts everyone.
- Overlooking a length limit that your trailer pushes you over.