Fahrlingua › Guides
Rettungsgasse: forming an emergency corridor
The rule
As soon as traffic slows to walking pace or comes to a stop on a motorway or on a road with at least two lanes in the same direction, drivers must form a Rettungsgasse – an emergency corridor – even before an ambulance or police car arrives.
Left lane left, everyone else right
Vehicles in the far-left lane move to the left. Vehicles in all other lanes move to the right. The corridor therefore always opens between the far-left lane and the lane next to it, whether the road has two, three or four lanes.
What happens if you don't
Not forming the corridor is an offence that is punished with a fine from 200 euros and points in Flensburg, and with a driving ban if you obstruct emergency vehicles. Driving through the corridor yourself is also forbidden.
German terms to know
- Rettungsgasse – emergency corridor
- Stau – traffic jam
- Fahrstreifen – lane
- Einsatzfahrzeug – emergency vehicle
Practise questions like this in your language with the German original in Fahrlingua.
Pass the German driving theory test in your language
Download free on the App StoreiPhone · iOS 26 or later · no subscription
Free guides
- The German driving theory test in English: how it works
- Rechts vor links: the right-before-left rule
- Alcohol limit for new drivers in Germany: 0.0 ‰
- How to get a German driving licence as a foreigner
- Speed limits in Germany
- German traffic signs and what they mean
- The Probezeit: rules for new drivers in Germany
- Reißverschlussverfahren: the zipper merge rule
- How to pass the German theory test on the first try
- Roundabout rules in Germany (Kreisverkehr)