View source for Driverspedia:Country articles/Legal requirements and essentials

Driverspedia's country articles aim to include all necessary information about driving in the respective countries in the fields of legal requirements to drive through a country without breaching any laws, as well as to provide advise about essential things like specific features of filling stations and regulations of urban zones with restricted access.<br>

Driverspedia only offers information about light vehicles (cars, motorcycles, campervans) useful for tourists and generally for people traveling by private means of transport. '''Laws and requirements for heavy commercial vehicles, buses and similar means of transport are out of the scope of the website.'''

== General editing guidelines ==

# Don't use copyrighted material. Copyrighted material can only be used under [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use fair use] . With the exception of copyrighted material that its use falls into fair use limits, only contribute content (text and media) that are your own  product or can be reused because of being licensed under a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_free-content_licenses free-content license].
# Keep your writing as short as possible, including only necessary information (details may also matter, so whenever required include exceptions and other details) trying to concentrate as much information as possible in a short text.
# The goal is to provide high quality information with an exceptional level of specificity, so referencing of the respective traffic codes' provisions is highly recommended and necessary in the greatest possible frequency.
# The use of visual material could be very useful and serve as an explanatory aid for the readers (for example for the way of use of an automatic toll payment machine), so use images to enhance readability and simplicity of the article.
# In the same manner images are used, also the use of links, both towards Driverspdia and external sources, is encourage to make articles both shorter and richer in content.

== Country articles' structure ==

Driverspedia's articles that offer the essential information about countries should have the following sections, separated by the respective headings:

# Articles that belong to the legal requirements and essentials' category should be titled by the common name of the respective country. At the start of the article the template <code><nowiki>{{Meta country description}}</nowiki></code> should be used and immediately after it, without leaving any spaces, the first heading should follow, as described in the following point.
# <code>== Handedness of road traffic ==</code><br>In a single sentence the side of the road where traffic drives should be mentioned.
# <code>== Speed Limits ==</code><br>The general speed limits according to the country's traffic code should be specified following the later format and rules:
## They should be presented in a table, with the first column representing the type of the vehicles (only light vehicles should be mentioned in the table) or the conditions, for example vehicles with studded tires or fog, and the rest of the columns the different types of roads in ascending speed order, starting from built-up areas and ending in motorways.
## First the official speed unit of the country should be used (in km/h or mph depending on the system of unit the country uses) and in a parenthesis the conversion to the other one with the fractional part dropped without rounding.
## For special conditions or exceptions either use a separate row or create notes by using <code><nowiki><ref group="note"></ref></nowiki></code> and <code><nowiki><references group="note"/></nowiki></code> tags like in [[Austria#Speed_Limits]] case.
# <code>== Documents ==</code><br>List all the documents drivers and riders should carry with them while driving and may should be presented to the authorities during a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_stop traffic stop]. Additionally, list any further requirements such as the need for the use of a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_vehicle_registration_code country of registration sticker].
# <code>== Items required in cars or with motorcycles ==</code><br>Mandatory equipment (in most cases it is emergency equipment) that should be carried in cars and with motorcycles should be listed in this section. Recommended equipment can also be listed here, but with the explicit clarification that there is no legal obligation for drivers and riders to carry it with them.
# <code>== Winter conditions ==</code><br>In this sections laws about the use of winter tires and winter equipment such as snow chains should be specified, especially in countries where their use is mandatory.
## <code>=== Studded tires ===</code><br>Laws about the use of studded tires or their ban should be mentioned in this section.
# <code>== Headlights ==</code> Laws about headlights and especially if there is an obligation for them to be switched on during day-time should be mentioned here.
# <code>== Filling stations ==</code><br>The way refueling works in the country like if the stations are manned or unmanned, attended or self*service and the ways of payment should be explained int this section.
## <code>=== Fuel Types ===</code><br>The available types (for example petrol/gasoline, diesel) and subtypes (95 and 98 RON petrol, E5 and E10 petrol etc.) of fuel that are available in the country along with the local labels found at the pumps should be listed here.
## <code>=== Fuel stations locations and fuel prices ===</code><br>Websites and apps that provide live fuel prices along with the locations of fuel stations should be listed here. If there are official resources those should be included too and not only third party implementations.
## <code>=== Electric vehicle chargers ===</code><br>Websites and apps that provide EV charger locations should be listed here. Again, if there are official resources those should be included too and not only third party implementations.
# <code>== Road user charges ==</code><br>This section lists all the road user charging schemes of the country for light vehicles as subsections.
## <code>=== Toll stickers ===</code><br>If the country uses toll stickers (vignettes) general information regarding them should be put here.
### <code>==== Purchase and installation ====</code><br>Information about purchase and installation of toll stickers should be placed in this subsection.
## <code>=== Toll Roads ===</code><br>In this section information for toll roads of the country for light vehicles should be analytically explained. This information should include the way the system works (if the charges are distance based or fixed price for example) and the different options each lane at the toll plazas offer, for example manned booths, automatic payment machines, video tolls with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number-plate_recognition ANPR], as well as the payment methods for each option, e.g. cash, debit or credit cards, online payment in advance or after crossing the toll station or any other available method.
###<code>==== [Specific toll road] ====</code><br>If there are specific toll roads that have specific features they can be listed as a subsection of the previous category with the heading of the subsection having the name of the road. Alternatively, if there is a group of roads sharing specific features they can all be listed under a shared subsection, with an appropriate heading.
# <code>Urban Access Regulations</code><br>This section lists schemes and rules about zones of restricted access, usually in city centers and towns. Only schemes that affect light vehicles should be listed here. These schemes could fall in any of the following categories: emission based restricted zones were often stickers are assigned to vehicles according to their emissions level, zones with toll fees, pollution emergency schemes that are activated when air pollution meets certain levels. If a country implements more than one of these schemes the section can be divided to subsections, one for each scheme.

In countries in which more than one traffic codes exist in different administrative divisions, each division should have its own article, but in case there is part of the traffic rules regulated in nationwide level, these set of laws should be listed in the main country's article.