Broken down on the Autobahn: what to do if you don't speak German

A flat tyre in a country whose language you don't speak is most people's worst road-trip fear. Germany has an unusually good answer to it — and it isn't your phone. Here's the order to do things in, and the one roadside device that solves both the language problem and the "where am I" problem in a single button press.

First: make yourself safe, in this order

Do all of this before you call anyone. It takes under a minute and it is the part that actually keeps you alive.

1. Hazard lights on — the moment you notice the problem, before you even start slowing.
2. Get onto the hard shoulder and turn the wheels to the right, so the car can't be pushed back into the traffic lane.
3. High-visibility vest ON, before you open the door. In Germany the driver is legally required to wear one. Keep it in the cabin, not the boot — a vest in the boot is a vest you have to stand in traffic to reach.
4. Get out on the passenger side, never into the traffic lane, and take everyone with you.
5. Wait behind the guardrail. Never in the car, and never standing in front of it.
6. Then put out the triangle and call for help — in that order.

The warning triangle: 150 m back, or "four posts"

At motorway speeds the triangle needs to go far further back than instinct suggests, and the roadside gives you a way to measure it.

1. On the Autobahn, put it at least 150 metres behind the car.
2. The white guide posts (Leitpfosten) stand 50 metres apart — so walk back four posts.
3. Walk behind the guardrail, not along the lane, and carry the triangle in front of you so traffic sees it before it sees you.

Use the orange SOS post, not your mobile

This is the part most visitors don't know. Germany's Autobahnen have orange emergency call posts (Notrufsäulen) roughly every 2 kilometres, and they are the best tool available to a driver who doesn't speak the language.

When you press the button, the post transmits its own exact location automatically. You do not have to describe where you are, spell a road name, or read a number to anyone — which is exactly the part that goes wrong when you and the operator don't share a language. Staff answering these calls include speakers of languages other than German.

To find the nearest one: look at those same white guide posts. Each carries a small black arrow pointing toward the closest emergency phone. Follow the arrows — behind the guardrail, never along the traffic lane.

If you would rather call

Germany's national breakdown service is the ADAC, and you do not have to be a member to be helped (non-members pay for the callout). From a foreign mobile, dial +49 89 22 22 22. From a German number it's 089 20 20 40 00. The ADAC's breakdown app handles German and English by voice.

Driving a rental? Call the breakdown number on your rental agreement first. Recovery is their contract, and calling someone else can complicate who pays.

For a medical emergency, fire, or a crash with injuries, the number is 112 — the same across the whole EU.

Why 112 usually already knows where you are

Germany uses Advanced Mobile Location. When you dial 112 from a smartphone, the handset quietly sends your GPS position to the control centre and keeps updating it. So for a genuine emergency you are far less lost than you feel — the system is doing the locating for you.

That is precisely why the SOS post matters for a breakdown: a flat tyre isn't a 112 call, and the post gives a breakdown service the same automatic precision.

The German equivalent of a mile marker

If you ever do need to say where you are — no signal, no post in sight — look again at the guide posts. Many carry a small plate called a Stationszeichen, showing the road number and your position along it. They appear every 50 to 100 metres on classified roads, which makes them considerably denser than American mile markers.

That plate is the number to read out. It is the German answer to "what mile marker are you at?" — the question every dispatcher, in every country, is really asking.

Before you cross the next border

Do not assume Germany's rules travel with you. Vest, triangle and first-aid-kit requirements differ country to country, and so does who you call — each country has its own breakdown service even though 112 works EU-wide. Check the specifics each time you cross, and keep your rental's breakdown number somewhere you can reach without unlocking a phone.

Questions, answered

Related: How to report your location in an emergency · What is my mile marker? · Mile markers vs exit numbers · Driving in the US as a foreign visitor