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Nurburgring Insurance
The Nurburgring Nordschleife is a one-way toll road open to the public at times advertised on the official Nurburgring website. The Germans refer to this as tourist driving ("Touristenfahrten").
The Nurburgring Nordschleife is open to road legal motor vehicles capable of a minimum speed of 60 kmh. It is common to see a wide variety of motor cars, motorbikes, coaches and taxis.
German road traffic law ("StVO") applies to the whole of the Nurburgring Nordschleife. StVO 3.1 states that a driver may only drive so fast that he is always in control of his vehicle. The driver must adjust his speed according to road, traffic, visibility and weather conditions. There are numerous advisory and mandatory road signs around the route.
There are some speed restricted parts of the Nurbrurgring Nordschleife. In particular, a 50 kmh limit applies to the first 200 metres from the main entrance. A 90kmh limit applies to the approach to the exit at Breidsheid and a limit reducing from 120 kmh to 50 kmh applies to the main exit. The remainder of the road is destricted. In other words there is no speed limit for the majority of the route.
The General conditions for driving on the Nordschleife state that racing and speed record attempts are forbidden (as per StVO 29.1). Drivers of non-German registered cars must have proof of Insurance and the car must be road legal (therefore taxed and MOT'ed if required). The German courts have ruled that an insurer cannot escape liability during tourist driving.
Overtaking is as per the continental rules of the road; so on the left only and you must keep to the right when not overtaking. The Nordschleife is deemed to have two lanes. However, there are no road markings down the centre. The police will attend and investigate road traffic accidents and where blame is found then a prosecution may follow.
The Road Traffic Act 1988 prohibits a UK insurer from excluding minimum level cover anywhere in an EU member state in a place where Insurance is mandatory. Any clause in an Insurance policy seeking to exclude mandatory cover is of no effect; see s. 145(3) and s. 148 of the Road Traffic Act.
The cover required by law is minimum level cover. Therefore, third party only. If you require comprehensive cover then you should ask your Insurance broker for this. It is also necessary to inform your insurer that you are travelling to Germany prior to departure. You do not need a Green Card for Germany.
Your Insurance policy will probably contain a clause to the effect that if the insurer is obligated to meet a claim it otherwise would not pay then the insurer is entitled to reclaim the settlement from the policy holder. The only recourse in this situation would be to argue that the term is unreasonable therefore subject to the Unfair Contract Terms legislation and not enforceable. This has not been tested in the UK courts with reference to the Nurburgring Nordschleife.