I travel several times a year to Germany on private leisure trips. I keep my car and its tyres in good order, and have a great deal of experience of continental driving, including in winter conditions. But my German friends tell me that it is compulsory there for cars to be fitted with approved winter tyres from November 1 each year, and they are convinced that should I have an accident in the period covered by this regulation, I could be held to be legally liable, and thus might also fail automatically to be covered by insurance. Would the German Authorities be within their rights to say that a UK-registered car fully compliant with regulations here, would not be recognised as such in Germany during the winter period? If so, there would seem to be a real danger that British motorists could be in for an extra shock in case of an accident, and might not even be covered by their own insurance. Is there any safe chapter and verse on this?