Touring tips
Drinking and driving: Nil percentage of alcohol allowed in drivers’ blood; amounts of less than 0.08 per cent incur a fine, more than 0.08 per cent legal proceedings.
Driving license: Minimum age at which an Irish driving license holder may drive a temporarily imported car and / or motorcycle is 17. All valid Irish driving licenses should be accepted in Hungary.
Fines: On-the-spot can be imposed. The police must hand over the payment order to transfer the amount of the fine within 30 days. The fine is only payable in HUF, credit cards are not accepted. Cash should not be given to a policeman at the roadside. Wheel clamps are in use.
Fuel: Unleaded petrol (95 octane), diesel (Dizel or Gazolaj) and LPG are available. No leaded petrol is available. Petrol in a can is permitted up to a maximum of 10 liters. Credit cards are accepted at some filling stations, check with your card issuer for usage in Hungary before travel. Cash is the most usual form of payment.
Lights: Use of dipped headlights is compulsory at all times outside built-up areas. At night the use of full beam, in built up areas, is prohibited.
Motorcycles: Use of dipped headlights is compulsory at all times. The wearing of crash helmets is compulsory for both driver and passenger.
Motor Insurance: Third-party compulsory. Should a visitor cause an accident with a Hungarian citizen they must report it to the Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies.
Passengers/Children in cars: A child under 3 years of age may only travel in a vehicle if using a suitable child restraint system appropriate for their weight, they are permitted to travel in the front of the vehicle using this restraint if it is rear facing and there is no airbag or it has been deactivated. Children under 1.5m and over 3 years of age must use a suitable child restraint system and be seated in the rear of the vehicle.
Seat belts: Compulsory for front and rear seat occupants to wear seatbelts, where fitted.
Speed limits: Standard legal limits, which may be varied by signs, for private vehicles without trailers are: 50 km/h in built-up areas, 90 km/h outside built-up areas or 110 km/h on semi-motorways and 130 km/h on motorways. Lower speed limits may apply on the approach to level crossings. Vehicles with snow chains must not exceed 50km/h. In city centres, areas with an 30 km/h speed limit are increasingly common. Lower speed limits may apply on the approach to level crossings.
Compulsory equipment in Hungary
First-aid kit
Warning triangle
Reflective Jacket – All pedestrians walking on a road, or road shoulder outside a built up area must wear a reflective jacket at night and in case of bad visibility. Any person exiting a vehicle outside a built up area in a breakdown situation becomes a pedestrian and therefore must wear a reflective jacket.
Snow chains – The use of or their presence in a car can be made compulsory on some roads when weather conditions require.
Other rules/regulations in Hungary
It is recommended that the driver of a conspicuously damaged vehicle entering Hungary obtain a police report confirming the damage at the time of entry, otherwise lengthy delays may be encountered at the frontier when leaving Hungary.
This report should be obtained from the police of the country where the car was damaged.
Motorway tax is payable for use of:
M1 (Budapest – Hegyeshalom)
M3 (Budapest -Gorbehaza – Nyiregyhaza)
M5 (Budapest – Kiskunfelegyhaza – Szeged – Roszke/border with Serbia)
M6 (M0- Erd – Dunaujvaros)
M7 (Budapest – Lake Balaton – Letenye, border with Croatia)
M30 (Emod – Miskolc)
M35 (Gorbehaza-Debrecen)
Leaflets are distributed at the border to foreign motorists, explaining about the vignette. The electronic vignette and any toll charges must be paid in forints. The following credit cards are accepted: Visa, Eurocard / Mastercard, DKV and UTA. The vignette can be purchased in person, online, or by telephone (land line or mobile). When a motorist has purchased an e-vignette, a confirmation message will be sent or a coupon issued.
This document must be kept for one year after the expiry of validity. The motorway authorities check all vehicles electronically, and verify the registration number, the category of toll paid and the validity of the e-vignette. Further information: www.motorway.hu– is available for 4 days (vehicles up to 3.5t only), 1 week, one month or 13 months.
Fines are imposed for non-display. The Hungarian Motoring Association, recommends that foreign motorists wishing to purchase a vignette at the border have cash in Hungarian Forints. Vignettes should only be purchased from outlets where the prices are clearly displayed at the set rate.
Motorists should be wary of contrived incidents, particularly on the Vienna – Budapest motorway, designed to stop motorists and expose them to robbery.
A new directive by the Hungarian authorities means that traffic will be restricted from entering Budapest when the dust in the air exceeds a fixed level on two consecutive days. The restriction depends upon the number which a registration plate ends, license plates ending in odd numbers will be permitted to enter Budapest on odd numbered days, even number on even days.
This information should be read in conjunction with general advice for motoring in Europe.
Toll Prices
In Hungary a vignette tolling system is in operation. Vignettes are a small, colored sticker affixed to motor vehicles in the Hungary and some other European nations to indicate road tolls have been paid. Expect to pay a toll on all motorways. Vignettes are available for purchase at the border crossing and at petrol stations and UAMK – Yellow Angel.
Physical toll stickers were replaced with electronic vignettes and video tolling on January 1st, 2008, the only physical item the purchaser receives is a control coupon. Motorway usage entitlement is verified by roadside cameras based on license plate numbers, and drivers of vehicles up to 3.5 tons without a valid vignette are charged with a cash fine of €140 (HUF 38,750), or €700 (HUF 193,750) if the initial fine is not paid in 15 days.
2011 Vignette prices:
| Time / Weight | to 3.5 t | 3.5 tons – 7.5 tons | 7.5 t – 12t | above 12t |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily | – | 3 000 HUF | 3 000 HUF | 3 000 HUF |
| 4 days | 1 650 HUF | – | – | – |
| 10 days | 2 750 HUF | 7 750 HUF | 11 750 HUF | 14 750 HUF |
| Monthly | 4 500 HUF | 13 000 HUF | 19 000 HUF | 24 000 HUF |
| Annual | 40 000 HUF | 115 000 HUF | 172 000 HUF | 215 000 HUF |