Driving on Major Highways in Hungary

When we drive from Pécs to Budapest, we take a fairly new major highway (M6). The road is so new that it is not on our new GPS map. All roads in Hungary are privately owned, and tend to be well maintained.

When driving on a major highway, you need to have purchased a special license that costs about $250 for a year. On the highway, all trucks MUST stay in the right lane, and usually drive a maximum of 90 kilometers per hour (56 mph). Small cars, like ours, usually stay in the right lane driving 120 to 130 kilometers per hour (75 to 81 mph) until passing a truck or a slower car using the left lane.

The large cars, like the Mercedes, BMW, Audi, usually drive at a high rate of speed (150 kilometers per hour (93 mph) or faster) in the left lane. You must be very careful not to try to pass a slower car when one of these faster cars are approaching in the left lane at speeds up to 200 kilometers per hour (124 mph).