Your car · Required kit

How to Carry the Right Kit in Every European Country (2026)

Checked 4 October 2026 on the EU's, the ministries' and the police's own pages · skynomad

Leaving it at home is not free. Portugal's Highway Code fines a missing triangle or vest €60 to €300, and €120 to €600 if you have them but do not use them.

The lists differ more than you would expect. Switzerland asks for a triangle and nothing else. Slovenia asks for five items, spare bulbs included.

So read your route across the table first. Then pack for the strictest country on it, and you are covered everywhere.

Read Your Route Across the Table

Required: an official source lists it. Wear it: it must be worn by anyone who gets out on the road, so carry one for each of them. Required*: only non-official sources list it.

• Austria. Hi-vis vest: The law asks for one, for the driver; ÖAMTC advises one for each person. First-aid kit: In a robust, dust-proof box.
• Switzerland. Warning triangle: The only item the vehicle regulations ask for.
• Italy. Hi-vis vest: Worn by anyone who gets out on the road outside towns, at night or in poor visibility; foreign drivers included.
• Spain. Warning triangle: Two. Spanish-registered cars now need a connected V-16 light instead; foreign cars comply with triangles.
• Belgium. First-aid kit: Listed by the Belgian police; whether it binds foreign cars is not stated. Fire extinguisher: Listed by the Belgian police; whether it binds foreign cars is not stated. Hi-vis vest: Worn if you stop where stopping is not allowed after a breakdown or an accident.
• Netherlands. Warning triangle: Listed by Your Europe; we could not confirm it in Dutch law.
• Poland. Fire extinguisher: Where you can reach it easily.
• Czechia. Warning triangle: Listed by Czech motoring sources, not by Your Europe. Hi-vis vest: Listed by Czech motoring sources, not by Your Europe.
• Slovakia. First-aid kit: Listed by Slovak motoring sources, not by Your Europe.
• Slovenia. Spare wheel or repair kit: A spare wheel and tools, or a device that lets you drive on with a damaged tyre.
• Hungary. First-aid kit: Type B, complete and in date: an expired kit counts as none. Hi-vis vest: Worn when you get out after a breakdown outside towns or on a motorway.
• Portugal. Warning triangle: At least 30 m behind the car, visible from 100 m.

Most of these rows come from the EU's own Your Europe pages, last updated in 2024 and 2025. Where a ministry, a police force or a motoring club adds to them, the note under the table says so.

Carry a Triangle in Every Country, and a Vest for Every Seat

A triangle is on every country's list; Czechia's comes from Czech motoring sources, not the EU's page. Portugal says where it goes: at least 30 m behind the car, visible from 100 m.

The vest is where the rules split. France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia and Portugal ask you to carry one, and Czech motoring sources say the same. Italy, Belgium and Hungary ask you to wear one when you get out on the road. Italy applies that to foreign drivers too, outside towns, at night and in poor visibility.

Austria's law asks for one vest, for the driver. ÖAMTC, the Austrian motoring club, advises one for everybody. I'd follow the club: a passenger who gets out to help is on the same hard shoulder.

Keep the vests in the cabin, not under the luggage. You put one on before you open the door.

Add a First-Aid Kit for Germany, Austria, Czechia and Hungary

Germany, Austria and Czechia ask for one in every car. Austria wants it in a robust, dust-proof box. Slovenia and Belgium list one too, and Slovak motoring sources do as well.

Hungary is the strict one. Its kit must be type B, complete and in date, and an expired kit counts as no kit at all. Check the date on the box before you cross.

Pack a Fire Extinguisher for Poland and Belgium

Poland asks for an extinguisher where you can reach it easily. Belgium's police list one as well. Neither source says whether a foreign car must carry it.

I'd carry one in both countries rather than argue it at the roadside. A small car extinguisher takes the space of a bottle of water.

In Slovenia, Carry Spare Bulbs and a Way to Fix a Flat

Slovenia's list is the longest here. On top of the triangle, vest and first-aid kit, it asks for a set of spare bulbs. It also asks for a spare wheel and tools, or a device that lets you drive on with a damaged tyre.

A car with a sealant kit instead of a spare wheel meets that second rule. A car with neither does not.

In Spain, Keep Your Triangles: the V-16 Light Is for Spanish Cars

Since 1 January 2026, a Spanish-registered car must carry a connected V-16 warning light instead of triangles. A foreign-registered car does not. Spain's traffic authority, the DGT, says a car from another country complies by using its triangles.

So bring two triangles to Spain, and do not buy a V-16 light for the trip.

In France, Carry a Breathalyser if You Like: the Fine Is Gone

France once required every driver to carry a breathalyser. A 2013 decree removed the fine for not having one, so carrying one is up to you.

Carry a triangle and a vest for every seat, and add what the strictest country on your route asks for. Every rule on this page was read on the EU's, a ministry's, the police's or a national motoring source's own page on 4 October 2026.

Partner link Search Amazon UK for the kit this page names: warning triangle (ECE R27), hi-vis vest (EN ISO 20471), car first-aid kit (DIN 13164), car fire extinguisher, spare bulb kit. We earn a commission if you buy through these links; we have not tested any product.