In short: At "Amber shortly before the junction" the examiner mainly wants to see: Check the rear-view mirror: how close is the car behind?; Judge the distance to the stop line and the braking distance; Amber means wait before the stop line: if I can brake safely, I stop; If I can no longer stop safely, I drive through briskly without accelerating. A severe mistake that can end the test: slam on the brakes although the car behind follows closely.
In town, you approach a traffic light at 50 km/h. The light turns amber, the stop line is still some distance away. A car follows behind you.
The examiner says„Fahren Sie bitte geradeaus weiter.“
"Please continue straight ahead."
What you have to show
- Check the rear-view mirror: how close is the car behind?
- Judge the distance to the stop line and the braking distance
- Amber means wait before the stop line: if I can brake safely, I stop
- If I can no longer stop safely, I drive through briskly without accelerating
- Wait at the stop line at red
The right order
- Notice amber: rear-view mirror, how close is the car behind?
- Judge the distance to the stop line and the braking distance
- If I can stop safely: brake smoothly and stop before the stop line
- If that is no longer safe: drive through briskly, do not accelerate
- At red wait at the stop line
Typical mistakes
What the examiner records in the protocol
The examiner files every situation under five competence areas in the electronic test protocol. This is how the points of this situation are spread:
- Check the rear-view mirror: how close is the car behind?
- Judge the distance to the stop line and the braking distance
- Amber means wait before the stop line: if I can brake safely, I stop
- If I can no longer stop safely, I drive through briskly without accelerating
- Wait at the stop line at red
How the examiner grades: the electronic test protocol explained →
A strong answer
At amber I check the rear-view mirror to see how close the car behind is, and I judge the distance to the stop line and my braking distance. Amber means: wait before the stop line. If I can brake safely, I brake smoothly and stop. If I can no longer stop safely, I drive briskly through the junction without accelerating. If the light shows red, I wait at the stop line.
What the law says
§ 37 (2) no. 1 StVO: amber orders “wait before the junction for the next signal”. Red orders “stop before the junction”. You stop at the stop line (sign 294, annex 2 no. 67). § 4 (1) sentence 2 StVO: whoever drives ahead must not brake hard without a compelling reason. That you may drive on if normal braking at amber no longer stops you before the stop line is not in the wording of the StVO, it comes from case law. Entering at red is a red-light offence.
Legal text: § 37 StVO · § 4 StVO · Anlage 2 StVO (gesetze-im-internet.de)
Quick check
You drive 50 km/h towards a green light. It turns amber, the stop line is still a good 60 metres away, the car behind is far away. What do you do?
- Brake smoothly and stop
- Accelerate so you get through
- Honk and drive through
Show the answer
Tap the steps in the right order or explain in your own words what you would do. The app checks your answer instantly, free and without registration.
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