Germany: Teleoperated driving: Road Traffic Remote Control Regulation (StVFernLV) in force since December 2025

In teleoperated driving, a human driver controls a vehicle via a wireless connection from a control centre without being in the vehicle. The teleoperator monitors the driving situation live via cameras and sensors and controls the vehicle completely remotely.

On 1 December 2025, the Road Traffic Remote Control Regulation (StVFernLV) came into force, creating the first nationwide legal framework for teleoperated driving on public roads. After lengthy discussions about the right legal framework for this technology, a regulation is now in place, albeit for a limited trial period of five years. 

Experimentation clause as legal basis

The regulation is based on the experimental clause in Section 6 (1) sentence 1 no. 18 of the Road Traffic Act (StVG). This allows for temporary exceptions to road traffic law for experimental purposes. However, the choice of this legal basis is not without controversy: the Conference of Transport Ministers already stated in October 2024 that this legal basis was not suitable for the StVFernLV. Nevertheless, the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) put the regulation into force.

The experimental clause chosen requires that the regulation prevents risks to road safety. However, the technical characteristics of teleoperation, such as delays in data transmission, possible transmission errors and the physical and mental distance between the driver and the vehicle, raise the question of whether this requirement is actually met. 

Approval procedure and operational limits

The two-stage approval procedure

Two approvals are required for the operation of remotely controlled vehicles:

• Operating licence from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA): The owner must apply for an individual licence for each remotely controlled vehicle. It is helpful in this regard that a collective application without any limit on the number of vehicles is sufficient for vehicles of the same design, provided that the application specifies how many remote-controlled vehicles it refers to.

• Operating area approval from the state authority: The specific area of operation must also be approved. Particular attention will likely be paid to radio coverage in critical areas such as tunnels and urban canyons.

Speed limit and operating areas

Remote-controlled vehicles may travel at a maximum speed of 80 km/h. In addition, similar to autonomous driving under the Regulation on the Approval and Operation of Motor Vehicles with Autonomous Driving Functions (AFGBV), operation is restricted to approved operating areas. In practice, this is likely to lead to a significant restriction of the possible applications for teleoperated driving, especially for supra-regional logistics applications.

Requirements for teleoperators and technology

Qualifications of remote operators

The StVFernLV imposes strict requirements on remote operators. This inludes:

• Minimum age of 21
• Employment relationship with the vehicle keeper (external service providers are excluded)
• At least three years' driving licence for the relevant vehicle class
• Special training in remote control operation
• Satisfaction of the suitability criteria as for passenger transport
• If more than three points are recorded in the driving suitability assessment system in accordance with Section 4 of the Road Traffic Act (StVG), the lack of suitability is irrefutably presumed 

Impact on business models

In particular, the required employment relationship between the teleoperator and the vehicle keeper excludes interesting business models: private individuals cannot simply switch from conventional to teleoperated driving mode in their vehicles by using the chauffeur service of an external service provider.

Technical requirements for the remote control system 

Annex 1 of the regulation contains a detailed catalogue of technical and organisational requirements. Particular focus is placed on data transmission between the vehicle and the control centre, which must ensure low latency, high availability and low error rates.

In the event of a failure of the driving functions or an interruption of the radio connection, the vehicle must automatically switch to a minimal risk state. The remotely controlled motor vehicle must also be equipped with an emergency braking and lane departure warning system, as well as an emergency stop switch for vehicle occupants, and must be protected against cyber attacks in accordance with the state of the art. 

Unresolved legal issues

The teleoperator as vehicle driver

The StVFernLV treats the teleoperator as the vehicle driver within the meaning of the StVG as long as he or she is controlling the vehicle. However, this equation leads to interesting practical problems: How is a teleoperator in the control centre supposed to set up a warning triangle at a sufficient distance after a breakdown, as required by Section 15 (2) of the Road Traffic Regulation (StVO)? How can they secure the load in accordance with Section 22 of the StVO or fulfil their duty to wait at the scene of an accident in accordance with Section 34 of the StVO if they are not physically present there? 

Lack of adaptation of behavioural obligations 

Unlike automated driving, where Section 1b of the Road Traffic Act (StVG) explicitly modifies the obligations of the vehicle driver, or autonomous driving, where a new subject of certain obligations has been created with the technical supervisor, there is no clear adaptation of road traffic law obligations in view of the physical separation of driver and vehicle. The regulation leaves questions unanswered here that will have to be clarified in practical application. 

Distribution of responsibility and focus on vehicle owners

The regulation focuses heavily on the vehicle keeper, who is responsible for approvals, maintenance, training and operation. In the comments on the draft, it was frequently suggested that the organisational and operational responsibility for the operation of the entire system should be decoupled from the vehicle keeper and assigned to the operator of the remote control technology. This could mean a considerable additional burden for companies in the area of application of teleoperated driving, such as freight forwarders or car-sharing companies.

Bridge technology or independent form of mobility?

The BMV, which is in charge of the project, initially viewed teleoperated driving as a ‘bridge technology’ to fully autonomous driving. From this perspective, the StVFernLV is designed as a transitional solution for the test phase of this new mobility innovation.

However,  statements of the involved interest groups often point out that greater integration of teleoperated driving into the road traffic law regime for regular operation is desirable. Teleoperation is regarded as an independent application and not as a preliminary stage for autonomous driving. Permanent coexistence between autonomous and teleoperated driving is certainly conceivable. In any case, the centralisation of the granting of nationwide operating licences at the KBA promises to harmonise the approval process for both remote-controlled and autonomous driving.