If you are required to drive in Sweden for business, you will be lucky enough to drive in a country with excellent roads, comprehensive signage and polite drivers. But there are some things that can catch the unwary driver out, so do be aware of the rules of the road in Sweden.

To hire a car in Sweden, you must be at least 20 years old and this age restriction varies by vehicle category. You will need to have held a full licence for two years; drivers under the age of 25 may incur a surcharge. And don’t leave your important documents back in the hotel; drivers are required to carry a valid driver’s licence, registration documents and insurance documents at all times.

Dipped headlights

Typical of Scandinavian countries, dipped headlights must be used during daylight hours – no matter how sunny it is. And be aware the rules change in winter too. From 1 December to 31 March, Swedish registered cars in use are required by law to be fitted with either studded tyres or unstudded winter friction tyres.

The speed limit for roads outside built-up areas is always 70 km/h unless otherwise indicated. But since 2001 some new signs have been introduced or have been altered to also indicate the limit.

These include: the motorway sign (motorväg), which now also means 110 km/h, the ‘high speed’ road (motortrafikled) sign indicates 90 km/h (or 100 km/h on roads with a cable fence between the lanes), the new ‘start of village’ sign means a limit of 50 km/h is in force and the new ‘end of village’ sign means 70 km/h is the limit when leaving the village.

You should also put a bit of planning into your journeys if you are covering some distance. For instance Gothenburg and Lidkoping are 132 kms apart and will take you one hour 55 minutes to drive, while Nykoping and Stockholm are 102 kms apart (one hour 20 minutes) – and petrol stations are not generally open 24 hours a day.

Be careful when deciding to park on the street, as Sweden has very expensive fines for parking violations. Most Swedish cities operate on both metered on-street parking and timed ticket machines from 8am to 6pm. And in Gothenburg on-street parking usually takes place on the right side of the road only.

Animals and accidents

There are particular hazards that while aren’t unique to Sweden, will possibly take some drivers by surprise. Many countryside accidents involve animals. The major roads normally have fences against wild animals, but smaller roads do not. So you need to look out for deer and moose – they can often be half-a-tonne in weight, so they can do a great deal of damage.

You should steer behind the animal, as it might run forward when scared. In the north you will also have to watch out for herds of reindeer – slow down until all of them have passed.

If your journey starts at dawn or ends at dusk, this is the time many wild animals are moving. If you collide with an animal and it wanders off into the woods wounded, you must mark the spot where it entered the forest and call the police. Hitting an animal is not a crime but not reporting it is. Your car must be fitted with a special paper ribbon for this purpose. The reason for this is to help dogs to find the wounded animal.