Driving in the Czech Republic

Driving in the Czech Republic is quite easy. We drive on the right side of the road. Heavy traffic is to be expected in big cities such as Prague, Brno or Ostrava and mostly in peek times. Big cities are connected by 1250 km of motorways and highways.

General obligations

- wear seatbelts

- lights on all the time

- child seat or booster seat for all children smaller than 150 cm, weighting less than 36 kg

- not to use phone when driving

- 0 tolerance policy for alcohol and drugs

- radar detectors are illegal

- drivers must be at least 18 years of age

- passing cars is permitted on the left side only

- passengers in the front seat should be over 12 years old

Speed limits

There is three types of roads in the Czech Republic:

1) Highways & Motorways

- Speed limit: 130 km/h

2) Residential areas

- Speed limit: 50 km/h

3) Outside of residential areas

- Speed limit: 90 km/h

Fines

• for speeding is usually 1 000 - 2 000 CZK.

• for driving with alcohol 25 - 50 000 CZK + prison sentence

• driving and using your phone (holding it next to your ear or typing) 1 500 - 2 500 CZK

• driving without a vignette 20 000 CZK

Pointing system

• One receives points for driving offenses and misdemeanours. Once 12 points are collected, one looses their driving licence for a certain period.

Vignette

• Vignette is usually needed for riding on motorways and highways. It can be purchased online, at petrol stations, or post offices.

• The vignette sticker must be placed in the right bottom corner of the windscreen.

• 10 days vignette: 310 CZK; 30 days vignette: 440 CZK; 1 year vignette: 1500 CZK

Driving licence

• Driving is allowed with Czech, European or International driving licence.

• If your driving licence was issued by an EU country, the swap is voluntary.

• If your driving licence was not issued by an EU country and you intend to stay and drive in the Czech Republic for longer than 6 months, you are obliged to swap your driving licence for a Czech one.

  • The swap is possible if your driving licence complies with the requirements of the Convention of Road Traffic (in other words, it has the parameters of the Czech driving licence). If it does not comply with the requirements, you must go through a Czech driving school in order to obtain a Czech driver's licence.

  • The process of the swap takes between 1 - 4 weeks (priority x standard process)

Czech plate number

• If you import a car from abroad and wish to ride it in the Czech Republic for longer than 185 days in the given calendar year (or purchase a new one in the Czech Republic) you must register it in the Czech Republic and obtain Czech licence plate numbers.

• The application is submitted at any Department of car registrations of Municipalities

• The process takes about 1 week.

Parking in Prague

• Parking in big cities such as Prague is mostly paid for.

• Parking in Prague is divided into Blue zone (residents parking), Purple zone (mixed parking), Orange zones (visitors parking) and no zone. The paid-for parking can be purchased online here or via the ticket machines located on the streets.

• If you are a resident of Prague and you wish to park long-term in front of your house, it is better to purchase a yearly parking permit, which costs 1200 CZK.

• The best tool to find out how much the parking will be is www.mapy.cz which show you the rates when clicking on the street colour. On the photo below we can see purple zone, charging 30 CZK per hour in various times. Parking outside of these times is free of charge.

Important phone numbers

Emergency call - 112

Czech police - 158

Municipal police - 156

Medical emergency - 155