Die gefährlichen Begegnungen
A lorry is stopped at a red light with its right indicator on. There is space to its right. What do you do?
Erklärung: Beside the cab you are in the blind spot, and a lorry turning right sweeps across exactly that space. This is the single most lethal situation in urban cycling, and staying behind removes it entirely.
You are already alongside a lorry when it starts to move and turn right. What do you do?
Erklärung: Assume you have not been seen. Braking puts you back where the mirrors work; sprinting takes you into the swing of the trailer. The rule about who must give way will not stop the wheels.
You are riding past a long line of parked cars, one of which has someone sitting in it. What do you do?
Erklärung: A door opens faster than anyone can react, and a metre is the width of one. Taking that space is not rude — it is the only line on which the door cannot reach you.
Cars keep squeezing past you within the lane on a narrow street. What do you do?
Erklärung: The law requires 1.5 m in town and 2 m outside it. Riding in the gutter invites a driver to believe there is room inside the lane; taking a position makes the legal overtake the only possible one.
You want to cross a busy road at a zebra crossing. What do you do?
Erklärung: Riding across is not forbidden, but a riding cyclist has no priority at all there. Push and you are a pedestrian, and every vehicle has to let you over. Two seconds, and the law changes sides.
A bus is at a stop with its hazard lights flashing and people are getting off. What do you do?
Erklärung: Hazard lights at a stop mean people will step out from in front of the bus without being able to see you. Walking pace is what the law asks and what the situation needs.
A queue of cars is standing still at a light, and there is clear room to their right. What do you do?
Erklärung: A cyclist may pass waiting vehicles on the right at moderate speed and with particular care, where there is enough room. The care is the condition, not a suggestion — and never do it beside a lorry.
A driver waiting to pull out has looked straight at you, so you can expect to be let through.
Erklärung: Eye contact is the most reliable single signal on the road. It is the absence of it — a driver looking the other way — that should make you brake, whatever the priority rules say.
Because lorries must turn right at walking pace in town, it is safe to wait beside one at a junction.
Erklärung: The walking-pace rule for lorries over 3.5 t is real and it is not a substitute for being visible. Slowly is still fast enough, and the blind spot is unchanged.
Where must you never place yourself next to a lorry or bus?
Hattest du es gewusst?
Antwort:
on its right at a junction
Erklärung: The blind spot beside the cab, and the exact space a right turn sweeps through.
What does the German phrase "toter Winkel" mean?
Antwort:
blind spot
Erklärung: Literally "dead angle" — the area around a vehicle its mirrors do not reach.
How much room do you leave beside parked cars?
Antwort:
about a metre
Erklärung: The width of the door that is about to open.
How much space must a car leave when overtaking you inside a town?
Antwort:
1.5 metres
Erklärung: Explicit in the law since 2020, and the reason to ride out of the gutter.
How much space must a car leave when overtaking you outside a town?
Antwort:
2 metres
Erklärung: More room, because the speeds are higher. The town figure is 1.5 m.
What do you have to do at a zebra crossing before traffic must let you across?
Antwort:
get off and push
Erklärung: A riding cyclist has no priority there; a pushing one is a pedestrian with full priority.
How fast may you pass a bus standing at a stop with hazard lights on?
Antwort:
walking pace
Erklärung: And ready to stop, because people step out from in front of it.
What does the German word "Abstand" mean?
Antwort:
distance or gap
Erklärung: Überholabstand is the overtaking gap; Sicherheitsabstand is the safety gap.
Riding close along parked cars keeps you out of the traffic's way and is the safer line.
Erklärung: A door opening in front of you is the danger there. About a metre out from the doors is the safer line, even if cars have to wait.
Inside a town, how much room must a car leave when it overtakes you?
Erklärung: The 2020 StVO amendment set 1.5 m inside towns and 2 m outside them. 1 m is the gap you keep from parked doors.
On a country road outside a town, how much room must a car leave when it overtakes you?
Erklärung: Outside towns the speeds are higher, so the minimum is 2 m. Inside towns it is 1.5 m.
On a country road a car overtakes you with about one and a half metres to spare. What do you make of it?
Erklärung: 1.5 m is the minimum inside towns. Outside them it is 2 m — the pass you describe broke the rule.
Riding across a zebra crossing, you have the same priority as someone on foot.
Erklärung: The zebra crossing gives priority to people on foot. Get off and push, and it is yours too.
A bus stands at a stop with its hazard lights on. You may pass it at normal speed as long as you keep a metre away.
Erklärung: With its hazard lights on at a stop, a bus may only be passed at walking pace — people getting off step out without looking.
A cyclist may never ride past a queue of waiting cars on their right.
Erklärung: Passing waiting vehicles on the right is allowed, at moderate speed and with particular care, where there is room — never beside a lorry.
You may pass waiting cars on the right — at what kind of speed?
Antwort:
moderate
Erklärung: Moderate speed and particular care — doors open and cars turn right without warning.
What is the most reliable single signal that a driver has seen you?
Antwort:
eye contact
Erklärung: And its absence — a driver looking the other way — is the signal to brake.
You are about to ride past a car waiting to pull out of a driveway. Which tells you best that the driver has seen you?
Erklärung: Only eye contact tells you that you are in the driver's picture. An indicator says where the car wants to go, not whom the driver has seen — without the look, be ready to brake.