Driving in Switzerland

You can receive helpful information in French, German and Italian by calling the following numbers: general, tel. 111; snow conditions and tourist infor, tel. 120; weather, tel. 162; road conditions, tel. 163; avalanche bulletin, tel. 187. Many roads are closed to caravans and trailers.

It's often impossible to make good time in this mountainous country if you don't use the expressways; roads rarely approximate a straight line between destinations. Check your Switzerland road map carefully when planning your schedule. But besides realizing the limits that these roads impose, you should realize the potential they offer-you'll be enveloped by natural beauty on every turn. Plan to drive for driving's sake, and try to minimally constrain yourself with time-related issues. Ask yourself this question: Why do I want to drive quickly through Switzerland?

The minimum age of a driver is 18 years. Seat belts are compulsory for front-seat passengers. The legal blood alcohol limit is 80 mg. Speed limits are as follows: 50 kph (30 mph) in built-up areas, 80 kph (50 mph) outside built-up areas, and 100 kph (62 mph) or 120 kph (74 mph) on expressways. Cars/trailer combos which weigh less than 1000 kg are limited to 80 kph (50 mph) outside built-up areas; if the combo weighs over 1000 kg, it's limited to 60 kph (37 mph) outside built-up areas and to 80 kph (50 mph) on expressways. Roadside automatic radar-triggered cameras help enforce these limits.

The mountain resort towns of Braunwald, Murren, Wengen and Zermatt cannot be reached directly by private motor vehicle. Park at the railway or sky tram station and complete the journey via public transport.

Trams always have priority. Buses have priority when leaving a bus stop. Blue posts are used to indicate an upcoming intersection with a priority road. Traffic going up a mountain has priority, except where signs displaying a yellow posthorn on a blue background signal that postal buses have priority. A red slash going through such a sign indicates the end of the postal priority zone. Some of these mountain postal roads are one way; such cases are indicated by a white rectangle placed below the blue rectangle/yellow horn sign. Some mountain roads require one-way traffic during certain hours only; these hours will be posted at either end of such roads.

Use headlights in tunnels. Motorcycles must be operated with headlights on-night and day. Use the horn in cases of immediate and extreme danger only; flash your headlights instead.

When passing, do not cross a double white line. When completing a passing maneuver, you must signal with your vehicle's right blinker before you re-enter the right lane. Moving trams must be passed on the right if there's enough room; otherwise they may be passed on the left. A stationary tram should be passed on the left, unless it's stopped at a passenger island, in which case it may be passed on the right. Motorcyclists are not allowed to pass long columns of vehicles or to weave in and out of traffic.

Police are empowered to collect fines on the spot.

Parking

Do not park where you see a sign that reads Stationierungsverbot or Interdiction de Stationner. Parking on the sidewalk is illegal except where signs indicate otherwise. Many towns have Blue Zones that restrict parking during the period 8am to 7pm on weekdays. Obtain discs free of charge from ACS or TCS motoring club offices. In Basel, Berne, and Geneva you can get discs at fuel stations, restaurants, kiosks, police stations, and garages. In Laussanne a Red Zone system is also in effect; discs good for both zones (one side for each zone) can be obtained from the TCS offices or the tourist information offices. Wheel clamps are in use. Braunwald, Murren, Rigi, Wengen and Zermatt cannot be reached by private motor vehicle; park at the local railway station and go on by public transport.

Fuel

Fuel stations along expressways are usually open from 6:00 a.m. to 10pm or midnight. Those along Basel North, Pratteln North/South, and Coldrério East/West (N2), however, stay open 24 hours. Along other roads, fuel stations are open from 6, 7 or 8 am to 6 or 8 pm. Outside of open hours fuel is commonly available from automatic pumps that accept 10 and 20 SwF notes or credit cards. And some stations which do not always stay open 24 hours do stay open 24 hours during the summer. Many stations do not accept major charge cards like Visa, MasterCard or American Express. Normal unleaded petrol has an octane rating of 95; unleaded super has an octane rating of 98. Unleaded petrol is called bleifrei, essence sans plomb, or benzina sensa piomba, depending on whether you're in a German-, French-, or Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, respectively . Likewise, diesel is called diesel, diesel, or gasolio; and LPG is called autogas, Gaz de pétrole liquéfié (GPL), or gas liquido (GPL).

Tolls

Note that cars rented in Switzerland come with a visible sticker or vignette which allows the vehicle to travel Switzerland's express highways until the end of the year. You can buy this vignette for 40 SFR (about US$27) at Swiss National Tourist offices, Swiss Customs posts (the border), Swiss post offices, or Swiss garages. At the border you can pay in SFR, €, £'s and USD. You can also pay inside the Customs office onsite by credit card. The vignette is valid until the end of the January of the year after you buy it, is non transferable, and should be thoroughly affixed to the windshield. If you buy it from the person stationed for this purpose outside the office (who accepts only cash), they will insist on affixing the sticker. If you buy inside the office you can affix the sticker yourself. You must obtain a separate vignette for a trailer or caravan. If your vehicle doesn't bear a properly affixed vignette and the Swiss police catch you driving on an expressway, you'll be subject to a 100 SFR fine-on top of the vignette's cost. Expressways offer the only hope for speedy and level motor travel through mountainous Switzerland. By using the toll expressways instead of other roads you'll save a lot of fuel; the vignette will probably pay for itself in terms of these fuel savings. Still, it's not absolutely necessary to use the Swiss expressways; I abstained on one trip. You have to ask yourself this: Why do I want to travel quickly and horizontally through Switzerland? Carefully study your map to determine if you want a vignette.

Road numbers on green signs indicate toll expressways. (This convention is just the opposite of that in France, where blue signs indicate toll expressways or autoroutes and green signs indicate non-toll expressways.) If the police catch you driving these toll expressways without sporting a vignette, you'll be fined 100 SFR and forced to buy the vignette on top of that.