Theory course · Topic 13 of 14
Topic 13
Technical requirements & carrying loads
One of the two topics you cannot sit the theory test without.
In short
Topic 13 is the first of the two class-specific compulsory blocks for Class B: vehicle technology, vehicle physics and the carriage of people and goods. It explains what you have to check yourself before driving — tyres, lights, brakes, fluids — what mass and speed do to how a car behaves, and how a load is secured. Under § 4 FahrschAusbO you must have attended this double lesson at least once.
Compulsory additional material
Topics 13 and 14 are the class-specific additional material for Class B. Under § 4 FahrschAusbO you have to have attended both at least once before you can be entered for the theory test. Every other topic you may repeat as often as you like.
What this topic teaches you
The first part is the walk-around check: everything you can inspect yourself without tools. Tyres with a tread depth of at least 1.6 millimetres and the right pressure, working lights front and rear, brake fluid, engine oil, coolant, screen wash, and whether the windows and number plates are clear. Roadworthiness is the driver's duty — setting off means taking it on.
The second part is vehicle physics, and it explains a great deal that until now was only a rule. Braking distance grows with the square of the speed, cornering force does too, and both rise further with mass. A fully loaded car brakes over a longer distance, sets itself differently in a bend, and reacts more sharply to a lift-off. A high centre of gravity, for instance from a roof load, amplifies all of it.
The third part is carriage. A load has to be secured so that it cannot shoot forwards under emergency braking; the force needed is not the weight standing still but a multiple of it while braking. Add the duty to wear seat belts, restraint systems suitable for children, the permitted total mass, and how many people a vehicle may carry at all.
- Tyres: at least 1.6 millimetres of tread
- Lights, brakes, fluids, clear windows
- Mass, centre of gravity, cornering force
- Securing a load, securing children properly
What it looks like in Düsseldorf
The everyday version of this topic is moving house inside the city. A car loaded with boxes up to the roof lining, a shelf across the folded rear seats, a bike rack on the back — and then the slip road onto the A46 in a vehicle that feels nothing like it usually does. Anyone who has heard topic 13 knows why: the braking distance is longer, the rear is heavier, the view behind is gone, and an unsecured load becomes a projectile under emergency braking.
The second case is winter. Düsseldorf rarely gets weeks of snow, but it regularly gets nights around freezing with damp coming off the Rhine. Situational winter tyre rules mean this: on black ice, packed snow, slush or frost you may only drive on suitable tyres. That is not a date in the calendar, it is a question about the road on that particular morning.
What the test does with it
In the theory test topic 13 supplies the numbers you genuinely have to know: minimum tread depth, what tyre pressure does, how loading affects the braking distance, the rules on securing loads and on securing children. Because this topic is additional material for Class B, there are also class-specific questions that only candidates for the car classes receive.
In the practical test the appointment often begins with a question about the vehicle before any driving happens: show me how you check the lights, where you check the oil level, how you judge the tread depth. That is not an extra, it is part of the test — and it is the part that is easiest to prepare for.
- Minimum tread depth and tyre pressure
- Loading lengthens the braking distance
- Securing a load against sliding and tipping
- A technical question at the start of the practical test
Common questions
Why is topic 13 compulsory?
Because it is class-specific additional material for Class B. Under § 4 FahrschAusbO every candidate has to have attended the two additional-material topics 13 and 14 at least once before being entered for the theory test. Topics 1 to 12 are core material and may be repeated as often as you like.
How much tread do my tyres need?
Legally at least 1.6 millimetres across the whole tread. In practice considerably more is recommended, because water dispersal falls off before that and the risk of aquaplaning rises sharply as the tread wears down.
How do I secure a load in a car?
So that it cannot slide, topple or fall under emergency braking, during an avoidance manoeuvre or on a poor road surface. Heavy items belong low down and forward against the seat backs, never on the parcel shelf. Under emergency braking a multiple of the resting weight acts on them.
What happens if I never attend topic 13?
Then you will not be entered for the theory test, however well prepared you are and however many other classes you attended. That is the most common avoidable stumbling block in the theory course. When the two compulsory topics run here is shown in the theory timetable.