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Speed limits, licence and IDP rules, fines, alcohol limits and road signs for Indians driving in the USA, UAE, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Driving rules explained for Indian drivers abroad. Pick a country to see the side of the road, licence and permit rules, speed limits, fines and the local habits that catch visitors out. This page brings together 10 separate driving rules abroad explainer pages (Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, USA, Vietnam) so you can compare them without hunting for the right one.
Open Driving Rules Abroad Explainer on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Choose your country at the top: Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan and 6 more. On a phone it is a drop-down list.
Fill in the driving rules abroad explainer for that country; each of the 10 options keeps its own rules, data and defaults.
Read the result, then switch country to compare. The page link keeps your country (?v=australia), so you can bookmark or share it.
Australia, Germany, Italy and the rest sit behind one picker, so switching country takes a tap instead of a new search.
Every country keeps its own rules, numbers and defaults rather than one generic template.
The link remembers the country you picked, so a bookmark or a shared link opens straight on it.
10: Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, USA, Vietnam. Pick one at the top of the tool; the page link updates (for example ?v=australia) so you can bookmark or share that exact view.
0.05 g of alcohol per 100 ml of blood for fully licensed drivers, and it is the same in every state and territory. Learner and provisional licence holders must have zero alcohol in their blood, as must anyone driving a heavy vehicle, taxi, rideshare or dangerous-goods vehicle. Random breath testing is routine and roadside stations are set up without warning.
On roughly two thirds of the network there is no general numeric limit for cars, but 130 km/h is the official Richtgeschwindigkeit or advisory speed. Exceeding it is not an offence in itself, yet if you crash above 130 km/h a German court can assign you part of the liability even when the other driver caused the collision. Posted limits, roadworks and variable gantry signs are binding everywhere they appear.
130 km/h, which is about 81 mph, for ordinary cars in dry conditions. It falls to 110 km/h in rain or snow, to 100 km/h for drivers whose licence is less than three years old, and to 80 km/h for a car towing a trailer. Signposted limits and the average-speed tutor sections override the default.
Only one issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic. Japan is not a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention, so a Vienna permit is refused at rental desks and does not make you licensed. Drivers from Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco, Slovenia and Taiwan cannot obtain a 1949 permit and must instead carry an official Japanese translation of their licence issued by JAF or their country's designated body in Japan.
It depends on the street layout, not on a single urban number. Since 11 May 2021 it is 20 km/h where the roadway and pavement sit on one shared platform, 30 km/h on streets with a single lane in each direction — which is most Spanish urban roads — and 50 km/h only where there are two or more lanes in each direction. Outside town it is 90 km/h on carreteras convencionales and 120 km/h on autovías and autopistas.
50 km/h inside built-up areas, 80 km/h outside them, 100 km/h on expressways signed green and 120 km/h on motorways signed blue. Tempo-30 zones are widespread in residential quarters and Begegnungszonen drop to 20 km/h with pedestrian priority. Enforcement is dense and the penalties escalate steeply, so the defaults are worth knowing before you rely on signage.
Yes, if your licence was issued outside ASEAN. Thailand is a party to both the 1949 Geneva and 1968 Vienna conventions, so either type of International Driving Permit is accepted when carried with your original licence. A home licence on its own is not enough: you are treated as unlicensed, which is a fineable offence and gives an insurer grounds to decline a claim.
There is none — the limit is zero. Any detectable alcohol in a driver's blood is the offence, whatever your age or licence type. Penalties include fines in the tens of thousands of dirhams, imprisonment, vehicle impoundment and licence suspension, with deportation possible for an expatriate. Motor insurance is void where alcohol is involved, so the full cost of a collision becomes a personal liability.
0.08 % blood alcohol concentration for drivers aged 21 and over in every state except Utah, which has used 0.05 % since 30 December 2018. Commercial drivers are held to 0.04 % under federal rule 49 CFR 383.51, and drivers under 21 face zero-tolerance laws in all 50 states with thresholds between 0.00 % and 0.02 %. You can still be arrested below the limit if an officer judges your driving impaired.
Only a permit issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. Vietnam acceded to that convention, in force for the country since August 2015, and never joined the 1949 Geneva Convention - so the Geneva permit issued by AAA in the United States, by JAF in Japan, by the Australian and New Zealand motoring clubs and by Indian RTOs has no legal standing in Vietnam. Holders of those licences either use a driver, or exchange the licence for a Vietnamese one, which needs a visa or residence card valid for at least three months.