The Swiss rules you might break (because you’ve never heard of them)
Switzerland has a myriad of ordinances and regulations relating to many aspects of everyday life. Some of them you may already know, while others may come as a surprise.
You probably know by now how organised and orderly the Swiss are, especially when compared to many other countries. This means they leave nothing — least of all its laws — to chance.
Some laws, such as not making noise on Sundays and using specially designated bags to dispose of your trash, are common knowledge, or at least it should be to anyone who has lived in Switzerland for more than five minutes.
(However, did you also know that noise is not the only prohibited thing on a Sunday? You are also not allowed to hang out your laundry to dry on this sacred day).
Just in case you forgot all the rules, here’s a reminder:
READ MORE: Five Swiss laws that foreign residents are bound to break
But these are just some of the rules, so you are not quite off the hook yet.
Let’s look at others that a law-abiding resident of Switzerland must know.
Motorway stickers
You already know that if you use Swiss motorways, you must purchase a 40-franc sticker to affix to the inside of your windscreen. This vignette compensates for the cost of maintaining the roads.
So far so good. But there is more to this law: each vehicle you own should have its own sticker; transferring it from one vehicle to another is not allowed.
And if you think nobody will know if you do this, you are mistaken.
Swiss media reported about a Zurich resident who affixed the sticker to his windshield with a sticky tape because he was transferring it from one car to another.
His attempt to save 40 francs on a second sticker cost him (aside from a two-year probation), a total of 1,100 francs.
The paradox here is that for this amount of money he could have purchased 27 vignettes. And had he driven without one, his fine would be only 200 francs — the usual penalty for driving sticker-less.
So the message here is — don’t do this.
And speaking of cars and stickers…
Did you know you have to display the 'CH' sticker on the back of your vehicle when travelling abroad ?
‘CH’, as you know by now, stands for Confœderatio Helvetica, Latin term for Helvetic Confederation, which is the old name for what is now Switzerland.
Under Swiss law, all vehicles registered in Switzerland that are travelling abroad, including motorcycles, trucks, and trailers
“must bear a distinctive sign of nationality, i.e. the CH sticker, clearly visible on the rear of the vehicle.”
To be clear, this legislation applies only to cars that travel abroad; if you never leave Switzerland at all, the sticker is not a requirement.
Your car's 'passport'. Image: Wikicommons.
READ ALSO: Do I need a 'CH sticker' on my car when I leave Switzerland?
If you own a dog, you are subjected to some laws as well — or at least your pet is.
For instance:
In most cantons, dogs are required to be tagged and chipped.
This means they must have a collar, a tag indicating the owner’s name, address and telephone number, as well as an electronic chip embedded into the left-hand side of the neck. The chip must be registered with AMICUS (the national database for dogs).
And another thing: anyone in Switzerland with a dog needs to pay the dog tax. The amount is determined by the dog’s size and weight, so a Chihuahua will be less of a financial burden than a Great Dane.
What about cats?
According to animal welfare legislation, a cat must have social interaction — that is, daily contact — with people or other cats.
Furthermore, law requires households with cats to have “observation post at the window, from which the cat can monitor what is happening outside, and a toy in the shape of a mouse to pounce on and which they will drag around the house” (seriously).
There is more: in addition to a bed, and a litter box (one for each cat), you must also provide a scratching post and infrastructure to allow them to climb, hide and play.
See, owning a pet in Switzerland is easy!
By law, Swiss pets must be posh. Image by G.C. from Pixabay
Parking rules
Driving laws in Switzerland are similar to those in many other European nations, especially ones relating to safety and speeding.
But when it comes to parking regulations, they may differ from those in your home countries.
Rules differ based on the colour of the parking spot, and you should also familiarise yourself with rules (and penalties) for parking, including those related to the use of discs.
You would think this a simple matter — just display the time of arrival and place the disc behind the windshield — but not in Switzerland.
There are ordinances about how the compliant disc must look —11 centimetres wide and 15 centimetres high, and blue and white in colour — and how the arrow must be precisely set to the nanosecond in order to avoid parking fines.
READ ALSO: What are Switzerland's complicated parking rules?
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You probably know by now how organised and orderly the Swiss are, especially when compared to many other countries. This means they leave nothing — least of all its laws — to chance.
Some laws, such as not making noise on Sundays and using specially designated bags to dispose of your trash, are common knowledge, or at least it should be to anyone who has lived in Switzerland for more than five minutes.
(However, did you also know that noise is not the only prohibited thing on a Sunday? You are also not allowed to hang out your laundry to dry on this sacred day).
Just in case you forgot all the rules, here’s a reminder:
READ MORE: Five Swiss laws that foreign residents are bound to break
But these are just some of the rules, so you are not quite off the hook yet.
Let’s look at others that a law-abiding resident of Switzerland must know.
Motorway stickers
You already know that if you use Swiss motorways, you must purchase a 40-franc sticker to affix to the inside of your windscreen. This vignette compensates for the cost of maintaining the roads.
So far so good. But there is more to this law: each vehicle you own should have its own sticker; transferring it from one vehicle to another is not allowed.
And if you think nobody will know if you do this, you are mistaken.
Swiss media reported about a Zurich resident who affixed the sticker to his windshield with a sticky tape because he was transferring it from one car to another.
His attempt to save 40 francs on a second sticker cost him (aside from a two-year probation), a total of 1,100 francs.
The paradox here is that for this amount of money he could have purchased 27 vignettes. And had he driven without one, his fine would be only 200 francs — the usual penalty for driving sticker-less.
So the message here is — don’t do this.
And speaking of cars and stickers…
Did you know you have to display the 'CH' sticker on the back of your vehicle when travelling abroad ?
‘CH’, as you know by now, stands for Confœderatio Helvetica, Latin term for Helvetic Confederation, which is the old name for what is now Switzerland.
Under Swiss law, all vehicles registered in Switzerland that are travelling abroad, including motorcycles, trucks, and trailers
“must bear a distinctive sign of nationality, i.e. the CH sticker, clearly visible on the rear of the vehicle.”
To be clear, this legislation applies only to cars that travel abroad; if you never leave Switzerland at all, the sticker is not a requirement.
READ ALSO: Do I need a 'CH sticker' on my car when I leave Switzerland?
If you own a dog, you are subjected to some laws as well — or at least your pet is.
For instance:
In most cantons, dogs are required to be tagged and chipped.
This means they must have a collar, a tag indicating the owner’s name, address and telephone number, as well as an electronic chip embedded into the left-hand side of the neck. The chip must be registered with AMICUS (the national database for dogs).
And another thing: anyone in Switzerland with a dog needs to pay the dog tax. The amount is determined by the dog’s size and weight, so a Chihuahua will be less of a financial burden than a Great Dane.
What about cats?
According to animal welfare legislation, a cat must have social interaction — that is, daily contact — with people or other cats.
Furthermore, law requires households with cats to have “observation post at the window, from which the cat can monitor what is happening outside, and a toy in the shape of a mouse to pounce on and which they will drag around the house” (seriously).
There is more: in addition to a bed, and a litter box (one for each cat), you must also provide a scratching post and infrastructure to allow them to climb, hide and play.
See, owning a pet in Switzerland is easy!
Parking rules
Driving laws in Switzerland are similar to those in many other European nations, especially ones relating to safety and speeding.
But when it comes to parking regulations, they may differ from those in your home countries.
Rules differ based on the colour of the parking spot, and you should also familiarise yourself with rules (and penalties) for parking, including those related to the use of discs.
You would think this a simple matter — just display the time of arrival and place the disc behind the windshield — but not in Switzerland.
There are ordinances about how the compliant disc must look —11 centimetres wide and 15 centimetres high, and blue and white in colour — and how the arrow must be precisely set to the nanosecond in order to avoid parking fines.
READ ALSO: What are Switzerland's complicated parking rules?
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