Topic 11
Behaviour in particular situations

The first block is the accident scene. You stop at a safe distance, switch on the hazard lights, put on the high-visibility vest before getting out, and place the warning triangle at an adequate distance — much closer in town than on a motorway, where speed sets the distance. Then comes the emergency call on 112, and after that first aid. Failing to help is a criminal offence; fear of doing something wrong is not an excuse.

The second block is emergency vehicles and the rescue lane. Blue lights on their own do not yet give them special rights over you — only blue lights together with the siren require you to clear the way immediately. The rescue lane is not formed once the traffic has stopped but as soon as it starts to build, and it runs between the leftmost lane and the one immediately to its right, whatever the number of lanes.

The third block is weather. Fog means dipped beam and driving within your sightline; the rear fog light only below fifty metres of visibility, and then at most fifty kilometres per hour. Aquaplaning announces itself through light steering and a change in sound; the response is to lift off the accelerator, not to brake and not to steer sharply. On ice and in crosswind the same principle applies: act earlier and more gently than usual.

• Secure the scene, call 112, give first aid
• High-visibility vest on before getting out
• Rescue lane on the far left as soon as it builds
• Fog, aquaplaning, ice, crosswind

The A46 and the A52 back up regularly at peak times, and that is exactly where the rescue lane forms too late or not at all. The mistake is almost always the same: everybody waits until they hear the siren. The correct moment is as soon as the traffic starts to build — once everything is stationary there is barely any room left to create, because the gaps have gone.

In town the more common case is an emergency vehicle at a junction. Fire brigade ambulances and police cars come from behind or across on the main axes, and the Rheinbahn rails take up the space you would otherwise use to move aside. Stay calm, ease over to the right, and if necessary make room by moving into the junction — panic is more dangerous here than a second's delay.

Topic 11 supplies many questions that ask for a fixed order: what do you do first at an accident scene? When do you put the vest on? Where do you form the rescue lane? The answers are unambiguous once you hold the sequence secure, report, help in your head. Add the weather questions with their fixed numbers — rear fog light and speed below fifty metres of visibility.

The practical test rarely examines this topic directly, but an emergency vehicle or a sudden downpour can appear at any time. What is assessed then is exactly what this double lesson teaches: react early, make room, adjust your speed, without startling the traffic behind you.

• Order: secure, report, help
• Vest within reach inside the car
• Form the rescue lane before everything stops
• In aquaplaning: no braking, no steering jolt