Winter service; clearing and gritting in snow and icy conditions

Winter road maintenance is not part of the road construction obligation. There is no obligation under road law to provide a general winter service on roads or certain classes of road. In individual cases, the duty to ensure road safety, which is rooted in civil law, may result in winter road maintenance obligations for the road construction authority, particularly in local thoroughfares, but these are severely restricted in terms of space or subject matter depending on the local situation. On open stretches of road, the obligation to grit snow and ice only applies to particularly dangerous road sections (carriageway sections). Apart from this, winter road maintenance is a voluntary service provided by the road authorities.

Winter road maintenance outside built-up areas

Autobahn GmbH has set up a voluntary 24-hour winter service on federal highways in order to ensure uninterrupted accessibility wherever possible. However, road users have no legal claim to the latter.

Voluntary winter road maintenance is also only carried out during the day on other roads under state administration (federal, state and administered district roads); depending on the importance of the road for interurban, commuter or regular bus traffic, it is kept passable from 6.00 am to 8.00 pm or 10.00 pm. During the night, (unrestricted) accessibility is not guaranteed.

As a general rule, snow-covered roads must be accepted at times during heavy, prolonged snowfall. Even on the highway, traffic is then only possible to a limited extent. Critical road conditions are also to be expected in the event of heavy snow drifts and freezing rain.

Public winter services and private provision must therefore complement each other. Private precautions in winter include in particular

• equipping vehicles with winter tires in good time (Section 2 of the Road Traffic Act)
  and
• driving behavior adapted to the winter road conditions.

Winter service within the built-up area

According to the Bavarian Road and Paths Act, it is the responsibility of the municipality to maintain public safety and order within the built-up area by clearing the public roads of snow and gritting all dangerous road sections, crosswalks and pavements in icy conditions, if this is urgently required and others are not obliged to do so due to other legal regulations (in particular the duty to maintain road safety).

Municipalities also have the option of imposing a legal obligation on adjacent or rear residents to clear and grit the sidewalks and shared footpaths and cycle paths on public roads adjacent to their property or providing access to their property or, if there is no sidewalk or shared footpath or cycle path, to maintain these public roads in a safe condition in the width required for pedestrian traffic.

• § Section 3 (3) of the Federal Trunk Roads Act (FStrG)

  Road construction obligation

• Art. 9 Para. 3 of the Bavarian Road and Highway Act (BayStrWG)

  Road construction obligation

• Art. 51 Para. 1, 2, 5 of the Bavarian Road and Highway Act (BayStrWG)

  Municipal lighting, cleaning, clearing and gritting obligations, authorization to issue ordinances

• Winter road maintenance

• Roads; maintenance of greenery and shrubs
• Road maintenance service; implementation