Driving on a Croatian motorway

Most of the rules are those of any EU country. A few catch visitors out, and a few that guidebooks repeat have changed. Each rule here is from the Road Traffic Safety Act, with its article.

From the Road Traffic Safety Act (Zakon o sigurnosti prometa na cestama), as amended up to Narodne novine 145/2024, and the rules made under it. Last checked on 3 October 2026.

Speed limits

• 130 km/h on motorways, 110 on expressways, 90 on other roads outside towns and 50 in towns, unless signs say otherwise (Articles 53 and 54).
• Buses 100 km/h on a motorway. Vehicles over 3,500 kg, and any vehicle towing a trailer without brakes of its own, 90 (Article 55).
• A car towing a caravan or trailer with brakes has no lower limit of its own in the Act: the general limits apply. Many guides still say otherwise.
• Young drivers have no lower limit either. The limits that once held them to 120 km/h on motorways were repealed in November 2017.

Outside towns, more than 10 km/h over the limit costs €60, more than 30 km/h €260, and more than 50 km/h €660 to €1,990 (Article 54).

Who may use the motorway

No vehicle that cannot go faster than 60 km/h, and no pedestrians or cyclists (Article 139). There is no minimum speed in figures, but a driver going at less than half the limit must switch on the hazard lights (Article 51).

Lanes and distance

• Keep to the right-hand lane unless the road is busy, and overtake only on the left. Overtaking on the hard shoulder, weaving and tailgating are forbidden; keep at least two seconds behind the vehicle in front (Article 142). Fine: €260.
• On a motorway of three lanes or more, lorries over 3,500 kg and any combination longer than 7 m, as most cars with a caravan are, may use only the two right-hand lanes (Article 143).
• No stopping outside marked places, no turning round and no reversing (Article 140).
• One trailer at most. A detachable tow ball must come off when you are not towing (Article 90).

The emergency corridor

Since 30 July 2022, drivers must open a corridor for an emergency vehicle (Article 152). On a carriageway of two lanes, the left lane moves to the left and the right lane to the right; with three lanes or more, the left lane moves left and all the others right. The Act ties this to an emergency vehicle approaching, not, as in Austria or Germany, to traffic coming to a stop. Fine: €60.

Lights

Dipped headlights or daytime running lights by day from 1 November to 31 March, and all year on motorcycles (Article 102). Dipped headlights in every tunnel (Article 147): on the A1, Mala Kapela and Sveti Rok are each close to six kilometres long.

Winter equipment

From 15 November to 15 April winter equipment is compulsory on most motorways whatever the weather: the A1 from Zagreb to Maslenica, the A2, A3, A4 and A6, and the A5 from Osijek to Sredanci. The A1 south of Maslenica, the Istrian Y and the A11 are not on the list.

For a vehicle up to 3,500 kg it means winter tyres (marked M+S or with the snowflake symbol) on all four wheels, or summer tyres with at least 4 mm of tread and snow chains on board. Wherever there is snow or ice on the road, vehicles without winter equipment and lorries with trailers may not drive (Article 193). Fine: €130.

Alcohol and phones

The limit is 0.5 g/kg for drivers of cars and motorcycles. It is zero for drivers of lorries and buses, for anyone driving a car for work, and for “young drivers”, whom the Act defines as drivers under 24 with a Croatian licence (Articles 2 and 199). A phone may be used only hands-free (Article 196). Fine: €130.

If you break down

• Pull onto the hard shoulder and switch on the hazard lights (Article 140).
• Put on the reflective vest before you get out (Article 79), and set the warning triangle at least 100 m behind the car (Article 87).
• Wait for help at a safe place outside the car: HAC's advice.
• SOS telephones stand every 2 km and reach HAC's traffic control centre. Or call 112.
• HAC's patrol has the car removed, by HAC's partner for that stretch or by a service you call yourself, such as HAK's roadside help on 1987 (+385 1 1987 from a foreign phone). The driver pays for the tow.

Every car must carry a warning triangle, a first-aid kit and a reflective vest, and spare bulbs unless its lights are xenon or LED. The common claims that the vest must be inside the car, or that there must be one for each passenger, are not in the rules.

A driver on the wrong side

If the radio or the signs warn of one, slow down, keep to the right-hand lane, switch on the hazard lights and leave at the next rest area. To report one: police on 192, or 112.

When the wind is strong, parts of the A1 and A6 are closed: see when the bura closes the motorway. For what each vehicle pays, see vehicle categories.

Sources

• Road Traffic Safety Act (in Croatian), consolidated text up to Narodne novine 145/2024.
• Narodne novine 108/2017: the repeal of the young drivers' limits (Article 221).
• Ministry of the Interior: the emergency corridor, from 30 July 2022.
• Decision on compulsory winter equipment (Narodne novine 121/2020, 143/2023, 36/2025), and the rules on vehicles' technical conditions: winter tyres, the vest, triangle, first-aid kit and bulbs.
• HAC: advice for safe driving and help on the road (in Croatian); HAK.

A summary for drivers, not legal advice. Where it and the Act differ, the Act applies.