- Around 700 poster sites along autobahns and at service areas from early October 2026
- Seven designs instead of the three originally planned
- Topics: phones at the wheel, safe following distance, speed and alcohol
“Keep your distance!”, “Speeding is stupid!” and “Hands off the phone!”: with sentences like these and their own drawings, children will soon be addressing the adults on Germany’s autobahns. Federal Transport Minister Steffen Bilger and Christiane Leonard, Vice President of the German Road Safety Council (DVR), presented the new poster series together with five of the seven young artists in front of the Federal Ministry of Transport in Berlin. The “Runter vom Gas” (Slow Down) campaign has existed since 2008 and is run by the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) and the DVR. What is new this year is that the public was allowed to have a say from the very beginning. According to the campaign, it is aimed at everyone traveling on autobahns, whether by car, truck or motorcycle.
What do the new “Runter vom Gas” posters show?
The seven posters show children’s drawings about the most common causes of accidents on autobahns, each with a short message from the children. Three designs deal with phones at the wheel, two with safe following distance and two with excessive speed, one of which also addresses alcohol.
The designs in detail:
- Ella (11): “Put the phone away”, with a badly wrecked car and a smartphone.
- Lotta (11): “Dear cars, keep your distance”.
- Maria (10): “Dear Dad, put the phone away”, with a crashed car and a seriously injured person at the wheel.
- Martha (12): “Dear Mom, hands off the phone”, with a female driver on her phone and a crying guardian angel.
- Sara (10): “Dear Dad, speeding is stupid”, with a rear-end collision between two cars.
- Talia (11): “Don’t drink, don’t speed”, with a crashed car.
- Zoe (9): “Keep your distance”, with two crashed cars.
Originally, only three designs were planned, as in previous years. Christiane Leonard explains why there were seven in the end: “But given the many convincing submissions, the selection was so difficult for us that, for the first time, we will show seven different designs along the autobahns.”
Why did so many children draw phones at the wheel?
The phone was the topic with the most drawings submitted. The children have evidently observed closely how adults reach for their smartphones while driving.
The pictures feature oversized phones at the steering wheel and drivers whose eyes are not on the road. Leonard sees this as a clear signal: “It is particularly remarkable how many children took up the topic of distraction by the phone in their drawings. This shows us how attentively children observe the behavior of adults in road traffic.”
Ten-year-old Maria describes her design like this: “When people look at their phones, they are distracted, and an accident can happen quickly. And that’s what I wanted to show with my picture.” Lotta says that she is sometimes a little afraid of an accident, but fortunately has never seen one. She wishes for less hurry and a little more consideration, because it is also about the others. Talia says she finds it amazing that her picture will hang on the autobahn: “We can use it to show that children also have a lot of courage.”
How were the children’s drawings selected?
The posters are the result of a multi-stage process consisting of a public survey, a public vote and a nationwide drawing campaign. In the end, a jury from the BMV and DVR selected the seven designs.
Public survey in November 2025
To start, the campaign asked in November 2025 which of the most common causes of accidents on autobahns concerns people the most. According to the DVR, 32 percent named insufficient following distance as the greatest danger. This was followed by inappropriate speed at 29 percent, distraction at the wheel at 26 percent and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs at 11 percent. Participants could also submit their own messages to other road users. For many, children and family played a major role, while others wanted shocking images.
Three series to choose from
Based on the responses, the agency Scholz & Friends developed three very different poster series: “Children’s drawings”, “Illustrations of the dead” and “Body bags”. From June 2 to 20, 2026, the public could vote online. The result was clear. The children’s drawings won, the “Illustrations of the dead” came second, and the “Body bags” finished third by some margin.
The result was announced on June 21 at the federal government’s open day, at that time still by then Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder and DVR President Manfred Wirsch. Schnieder said: “The children’s drawings clearly won the vote. This shows that there is a great desire for emotional, touching messages.” Wirsch said that at first glance the pictures seem light and carefree: “That is precisely where their particular strength lies.” In his words, they are a reminder that behind every serious accident there are people, meaning the injured, their relatives and often entire families with lifelong consequences.
Real children’s drawings instead of AI designs
The designs that were voted on had still been created with artificial intelligence. After the series won, the BMV and DVR therefore called on children all over Germany to pick up a pen themselves. All children up to the age of 14 were allowed to take part, and the deadline was July 5, 2026. How they interpreted the topic was entirely up to them. From the numerous submissions, the jury finally selected the seven designs that now replace the AI drafts.
Who is behind the poster campaign?
The campaign is run by the Federal Ministry of Transport and the German Road Safety Council. It is supported by the employers’ liability insurance associations, the accident insurance funds and their umbrella organization, the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV).
The project has seen two ministers. Steffen Bilger (CDU) has been Federal Transport Minister since the end of July 2026, succeeding Patrick Schnieder, who had still announced the vote in June. Bilger says of the new posters: “With this campaign, we want to convey respect and consideration. We can hardly appeal more urgently to the responsibility of each individual than through the eyes of the youngest members of our society.” He is convinced that the designs will make an impression on drivers and further increase safety on the roads.
At the start of the vote, DGUV Director General Dr. Stephan Fasshauer had emphasized: “Road safety is not just a task for institutions, but a shared social process.” Through participation, personal experiences from the road would flow directly into the campaign work.
The DVR places the campaign within its Vision Zero goal. This refers to road traffic without fatalities, summarized in the motto “Everyone arrives. No one dies.” Leonard says: “If we want to get closer to Vision Zero, we must live up to this responsibility every day.” The posters thus join a series of DVR campaigns in 2026 dealing with distance, speed and distraction in road traffic.
How dangerous are distraction, tailgating and speed on the autobahn?
According to the campaign, 30,934 people were involved in accidents on German autobahns in 2025, around 85 per day. The main cause of most of these accidents is human error.
According to the campaign, insufficient following distance, together with inappropriate speed, is the main cause of accidents on autobahns. Driving too fast is also considered the most common cause of fatal accidents. Distraction at the wheel is said to increase the risk of an accident by up to 89 percent. These are exactly the topics the children address in their pictures, each in just a few words and without beating around the bush.
Where can the new posters be seen?
From early October 2026, the seven designs will be displayed nationwide on around 700 sites along autobahns and at service areas. That is the usual scale of the “Runter vom Gas” poster campaign.
Anyone who does not spot the pictures while driving can find them on the campaign website. There is also an online gallery with further selected submissions on distraction, speed and distance. These include drawings such as a car with a crossed-out TikTok logo, two cars as hedgehogs with the slogan “Keep your distance, or it’ll prick!” or an accident scene with the caption “Speeding = dead”. In a video, some of the girls have their say themselves. On social media, the campaign runs under the hashtag #DeinAutobahnplakat2026.
Zoe sums up her wish like this: “I hope my drawing makes the roads safer. I want more people to follow the traffic rules.”
Frequently Asked Questions
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When will the new “Runter vom Gas” posters be on display?
The new posters will be up from early October 2026. They can be seen nationwide on around 700 sites along autobahns and at service areas.
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Who painted the new autobahn posters?
The seven designs were created by Ella, Lotta, Maria, Martha, Sara, Talia and Zoe. The girls are between nine and twelve years old and took part in a nationwide drawing campaign for children up to the age of 14.
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Which other poster series were up for a vote?
Besides the children’s drawings, the series “Illustrations of the dead” and “Body bags” were put to the vote. The illustrations of the dead came second, the body bags third by some margin.
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Why were the AI designs replaced?
The drafts for the public vote had still been created with artificial intelligence. After the children’s drawings series won, real pictures by children were to take their place, which is why the BMV and DVR launched the drawing campaign.
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What is the “Runter vom Gas” campaign?
“Runter vom Gas” (Slow Down) is a road safety campaign by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and the German Road Safety Council. Since 2008, it has been raising awareness of risks and causes of accidents in road traffic, including with posters along autobahns.
