The Traffic Sign That Almost No One Knows: Germany Creates Sign of a Car with Three Occupants to Encourage Carpooling

Written by Ruth Rodrigues

Published on 22/09/2025 at 07:54

Updated on 22/09/2025 at 07:55

Desde 2020, a Alemanha introduziu uma placa para carros com três ou mais pessoas, mas a sinalização quase não é vista nas ruas e a maioria dos motoristas desconhece seu significado. Imagem: Chip

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Since 2020, Germany has introduced a sign for cars with three or more people, but the signage is hardly seen on the streets and most drivers are unaware of its meaning.

In 2020, the German government decided to update the Traffic Law to make the streets safer and traffic more efficient. Among the changes, a new traffic sign was created representing a black car with three people inside.

The intention was to encourage carpooling and allow vehicles with more occupants to drive on lanes typically reserved for buses, contributing to the reduction of congestion and increasing the safety of pedestrians and cyclists.

Despite the measure being in effect for five years, the vast majority of drivers are not aware of the sign, which is officially called “passenger cars or motorcycles with sidecars carrying at least three people.”

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

New Traffic Sign: The Proposal That Did Not Consolidate

Although incorporated into the legislation, the proposal to allow bus lanes for vehicles with three occupants did not advance in practice.

During the approval process, authorities realized that allowing these cars to circulate could compromise the efficiency of public transportation.

As a result, the sign never had real application in the daily life of German streets.

Currently, it is used only in tests conducted by transit authorities and does not have official regulation for effective use.

This means that, in practice, drivers cannot rely on the sign as a real benefit, being required to follow the existing rules for exclusive bus lanes.

Penalties Continue in Effect

Drivers who violate bus lanes, even with three or more occupants, are subject to fines ranging from 15 to 170 euros, approximately R$95 to R$1,082, depending on the risk that the violation poses to other road users.

This reinforces that, even being an innovative measure, the sign did not change traffic rules and did not bring practical benefits in everyday life.

Lessons from a Poorly Absorbed Innovation

The case of the sign shows that legal changes do not always translate into behavioral change.

Although the intention was to promote carpooling and improve traffic flow, the lack of practical application and adequate dissemination has made the signage almost invisible to the public.

Even with five years since its creation, the sign for vehicles with three occupants remains as an inactive legal concept, highlighting the challenges of implementing traffic innovations that depend on both regulation and driver awareness.

Source: Xataka

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The Traffic Sign That Almost No One Knows: Germany Creates Sign of a Car with Three Occupants to Encourage Carpooling

Since 2020, Germany has introduced a sign for cars with three or more people, but the signage is hardly seen on the streets and most drivers are unaware of its meaning.

New Traffic Sign: The Proposal That Did Not Consolidate

Penalties Continue in Effect

Lessons from a Poorly Absorbed Innovation

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The Traffic Sign That Almost No One Knows: Germany Creates Sign of a Car with Three Occupants to Encourage Carpooling

Since 2020, Germany has introduced a sign for cars with three or more people, but the signage is hardly seen on the streets and most drivers are unaware of its meaning.

New Traffic Sign: The Proposal That Did Not Consolidate

Penalties Continue in Effect

Lessons from a Poorly Absorbed Innovation

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

Brazil will harvest a record crop of up to 357 million tons of grains, but it does not have the capacity to store a large part of it. The storage deficit has reached the highest level in history and is equivalent to almost the entire production of Argentina.

Four times faster than the Concorde, capable of taking passengers from New York to London in less than an hour at Mach 5.5, and with an engine that switches from turbojet to ramjet mid-flight at Mach 3.5, the Hermeus Quarterhorse went from paper to its first flight in just 19 months.

Under nearly 2 kilometers of ice in Antarctica, scientists have discovered an ancient landscape sculpted by rivers up to 60 million years ago, the size of Wales, preserved as a time capsule that could help predict the advance of ice towards the ocean.

She started by collecting oyster shells from restaurants and today she has already accumulated more than 10 tons to restore reefs, recover coastal habitats, and demonstrate how a common waste can become a tool for ocean conservation.

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