Austria limits cars to 50 km/h in built-up areas, 100 km/h on other rural roads and 130 km/h on motorways. Some motorway sections have lower limits, including a permanent 100 km/h in Tyrol. Speed is measured by fixed and mobile speed cameras and by average-speed control, which Austria has used since 2003.
| Road type | Cars |
|---|---|
| Built-up areas | 50 km/h |
| Other rural roads | 100 km/h |
| Expressways (Autostraßen) | 100 km/h |
| Motorways | 130 km/h |
| A 12 and A 13 sections in Tyrol | 100 km/h, all year |
What are the speed limits in Austria?
The general limits are in § 20 of the Austrian Road Traffic Regulations (StVO 1960), unless an authority sets a different limit by sign. The motoring club ÖAMTC lists 100 km/h for cars on expressways (Autostraßen). § 20 also requires drivers to adapt their speed to the road, traffic and visibility, and to the vehicle and its load.
Three local rules matter on long trips:
- Tyrol: an air-quality regulation sets 100 km/h all year on about 90 km of the A 12 Inntal motorway and about 12 km of the A 13 Brenner motorway, according to the Province of Tyrol.
- Night on transit motorways: the ÖAMTC lists 110 km/h for cars between 22:00 and 05:00 on motorways designated for transit traffic.
- Air-quality limits elsewhere: the ÖAMTC notes that signs or traffic telematics can set other limits, such as 100 km/h under an air-quality regulation.
Lower limits also apply with some trailers and with studded tyres, as the ÖAMTC table shows.
What kinds of speed cameras does Austria use?
Austria uses fixed and mobile speed cameras alongside average-speed control, known as Section Control.
- Fixed average-speed sites: Austria’s transport ministry listed six in September 2023: the Kaisermühlen tunnel (A 22), Krumbach to Grimmenstein (A 2), the Ehrentalerberg tunnel (A 2), the Plabutsch tunnel (A 9), Bindermichl and Niedernhart (A 7) and the Arlberg tunnel (S 16).
- Mobile average-speed units: the same report lists 20, each covering one direction of travel and used at roadworks.
- Newer sections: promobil reported in January 2026 that average-speed control had started on the Luegbrücke section of the A 13, where the limit is 60 km/h. A system in the Pfänder tunnel on the A 14 was installed but not yet active in May 2026, according to auto motor und sport.
The first site opened in the Kaisermühlen tunnel in Vienna in September 2003. The ministry reports that accidents there fell by 50 per cent relative to traffic volume. We found no current national count of all speed cameras from a public authority.
Are speed camera apps legal in Austria?
The position on apps is not settled by the statute, which covers devices only. § 98a KFG 1967, headed “Radar- oder Laserblocker”, says devices or objects that can influence or disrupt traffic monitoring equipment may be neither fitted to nor carried in motor vehicles, and it does not mention apps. ADAC’s country table (May 2025) lists navigation devices with a location warning as an announcement function as allowed, and an ÖAMTC traffic-law expert told ORF in January 2023 that warning apps on a phone or in a navigation system are allowed; Autorevue (2022) adds that carrying a ready-to-use radar warner is banned. We found no statute, court ruling or government statement on apps, so this is a motoring club’s reading and not a confirmed rule (checked on 30 October 2026).
What should visiting drivers know about Austria?
- Speeds are in km/h, and a limit on an overhead sign or a telematics gantry replaces the general limit.
- Under § 98a, a banned device counts against both the driver and the registered keeper, unless the driver brought it without the keeper’s knowledge, and officers may stop the vehicle continuing until it is removed.
- Rules differ next door. Germany and Switzerland are far stricter on warnings, so check before you cross.
