In short: At "Lane ends: the zip rule" the examiner mainly wants to see: Recognise: lane ends, the zip rule applies; Drive to the end of the lane, do not change too early; Indicate right in good time; Mirrors and shoulder check to the right. A severe mistake that can end the test: push in at the end, the others have to let you.
Two-lane city road, dense traffic. The sign shows that your left lane ends in 200 m. In the right lane, cars are driving slowly in a line.
The examiner says„Fahren Sie bitte weiter geradeaus.“
"Please continue straight ahead."
What you have to show
- Recognise: lane ends, the zip rule applies
- Drive to the end of the lane, do not change too early
- Indicate right in good time
- Mirrors and shoulder check to the right
- Do not force it: merge in turn, match the speed of the lane
- In the through lane: let one vehicle in
The right order
- See the sign: left lane ends, zip rule
- Stay in your own lane up to the bottleneck
- Mirrors, indicate right in good time
- Shoulder check right, match the speed
- Merge in turn at the bottleneck, without pushing
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:
- Recognise: lane ends, the zip rule applies
- Mirrors and shoulder check to the right
- Drive to the end of the lane, do not change too early
- Do not force it: merge in turn, match the speed of the lane severe mistake
- In the through lane: let one vehicle in
- Indicate right in good time
How the examiner grades: the electronic test protocol explained →
A strong answer
The sign shows that my left lane ends, so the zip rule applies. I stay in my lane until the end of the lane and do not change too early. I check the mirrors, indicate right in good time and do a shoulder check. At the bottleneck I merge in turn, match my speed to the right lane and do not force anything. If I were in the through lane, I would let one vehicle in.
What the law says
Sign 531 (lane reduction). § 7 (4) StVO: where a lane ends, vehicles in the through lane must let vehicles from the ending lane merge in turn immediately before the start of the narrowing (zip rule). § 7 (5) StVO: the lane change must be announced clearly and in good time, and nobody may be endangered.
Legal text: § 7 StVO · Anlage 2 StVO (Verkehrszeichen) (gesetze-im-internet.de)
Quick check
You are in the through lane. At the bottleneck two cars in a row want to merge in front of you. What do you do?
- Let both in, better safe than sorry
- Let one in, the second merges behind you
- Let neither in, you were there first
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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