Winter equipment mandatory on Croatian roads from today

(Patria) - Winter equipment is mandatory on winter sections of public roads in Croatia from today.

The obligation lasts from November 15th of the current year to April 15th of the following year, and applies to all types of motor vehicles regardless of weather conditions and road conditions.

This is regulated by the new Decision on Mandatory Winter Equipment (NN 121/2020).

Winter sections of public roads include 839.2 kilometers of highways and 1863.3 kilometers of state and county roads, as well as 68.1 kilometers of state roads for transit traffic from the ferry ports of Vukovar, Osijek, and the port and refinery of Sisak.

Winter equipment for motor vehicles of categories M and N, whose maximum permissible mass does not exceed 3.5 tons, includes four winter tires (M+S) or four summer tires with a minimum tread depth of 4 millimeters and with snow chains ready to be mounted on the drive wheels.

Winter equipment for buses includes chains on the drive tires or winter tires (M+S) mounted on the drive wheels.

Buses and trucks that cannot install chains on their drive wheels due to technical reasons must have winter tires (M+S) on their drive wheels.

Fines

In accordance with Article 193 of the Road Traffic Safety Act (NN 70/19), winter conditions mean a road covered with snow or when there is ice on the road.

If the traffic police find a vehicle without winter equipment on the road when winter equipment is mandatory, they will order the driver to immediately stop the vehicle, or to continue driving on a road where the movement of that type of vehicle is permitted, or to use winter equipment.

Otherwise, the driver faces a fine of 132.72 euros.

The police officer who removes the vehicle from traffic will temporarily confiscate the license plates from the driver.

A fine in the amount of 390 to 920 euros, if they act contrary to the order of the police officer (i.e., attempt to drive the vehicle even though it has been removed from traffic), will be imposed on the driver of the motor vehicle for the offense, along with three negative penalty points and the imposition of a protective measure prohibiting driving a motor vehicle for a period of at least six months if the offense is committed for the second time, or at least 12 months if the offense is committed for the third and each subsequent time.

A fine in the amount of 660 to 1,990 euros will be imposed on a legal entity or a sole proprietor if they order or allow a vehicle that does not have the prescribed winter equipment, or a truck with a trailer, to be used in road traffic.

For this offense, the responsible person in a legal entity and in a state authority or local and regional self-government unit body will be fined in the amount of 190 to 660 euros.

A fine in the amount of 130 euros will be imposed on the driver for the offense if they drive the vehicle contrary to the provisions of this article.

European Rules

In many European countries, laws regarding winter vehicle equipment vary greatly.

In most countries, this obligation is date-determined, while in others, winter equipment is mandatory when winter conditions prevail on the roads, i.e., when there is snow, packed snow, or ice on the road.

In most European countries, winter equipment consists of four winter tires, but in some countries, as in Croatia, four summer tires with a minimum tread of 4 millimeters are permitted as winter equipment, with snow chains in the trunk.