4 ms·

This sounds good in theory, but it works less than one out of four times. (no negativity bias included) There's always someone not following the rules, which in

This sounds good in theory, but it works less than one out of four times. (no negativity bias included) There's always someone not following the rules, which in human nature automatically grants every observer to do the same. Following local news right now it seems people aren't even capable of "Rettungsgasse" (leaving a corridor for emergency vehicle access in traffic jams) anymore, a concept also encoded in law here. Sincerely, a German who's on the Autobahn on almost daily basis.

baxtr 8y ago
Strange. I see it working in practice 80% of the time... I’m on the road a lot, too. “Rettungsgasse” is something that regained popularity in the last years due to strong media push.
- User23 8y ago
  It always irritates me when I see people refusing to yield the right-of-way to rescue vehicles.
- CalRobert 8y ago
  For what it's worth, foreigners driving there may not be aware of the rule. I tried as hard as I could to be a conscientous, informed road user before my first trip to Europe (studied signs, rules of the road, etc.) but still got an angry motorcycle cop whacking my mirror in France because I thought emergency vehicles would pass on the shoulder and had moved over to allow this, not in this Rettungsgasse (or the French equivalent)
  - danieldk 8y ago
    What makes it worse is that the rules differ, even in EU countries. In Germany you have to make a 'Rettungsgasse' when there is a traffic jam, whereas e.g. in The Netherlands, emergency services use the 'vluchtstrook' (outermost lanes not used for traffic) in such cases.
    - davedx 8y ago
      Except where they've decided to let regular traffic use the vluchtstrook to drive on. Some roads you just need to be aware that you might need to make room for an emergency vehicle coming between the lanes.
  - seszett 8y ago
    That cop was probably angry for another reason, as Rettungsgasse are virtually unheard of in France. Emergency vehicles use the "emergency lane" at the far right of highways.
User23 8y ago
Out of curiosity, which Land are you in?
TheForumTroll 8y ago
1 in 4 is better than 0 in 4, which is what most of the worlds traffic sees outside northern europe. I also don't really believe it is close to as bad as 1 in 4. Studies I have seen seem to say it works almost every time but maybe not perfectly so.
merb 8y ago
actually on the accerlation lane on the german autobahn there is no requirement for a zipper. (https://dejure.org/gesetze/StVO/18.html https://dejure.org/gesetze/StVO/18.html (3)) The ruling was also applied inside the OLG Köln: 24.10.2005 - 16 U 24/05) but there are other courts that ruled like that. (The same ruling applies to "Bundesstraßen")
wil421 8y ago
It’s much worse in my city in the US. People will actually block the lane that is closing forcing you to merge early. Especially if there’s a long line in the open lane. I had it happen the other day.
- bluGill 8y ago
  That is illegal and you can call the police and report them for it. I don't know if it will do any good but I've wanted to - if only there was a safe way I could do that while driving.
  - wil421 8y ago
    I almost hit the guy who did it to me. I couldn’t swerve over because the shoulder was blocked by construction. I’ve been wanting a dashcam. Maybe it’s time to get one.
- CabSauce 8y ago
  Are they driving at the same speed as the congested lane? That's how it should be done, in my opinion. If driving in the ending lane isn't seen as "getting ahead" and is seen as "using available road without cheating", the behavior could actually change.
  - wil421 8y ago
    No congested lane stopped, lane where the zipper merge would happen had at least a half mile of space before cones started forcing a merge. 5 or so cars behind me doing the same merge. I was traveling 15-20mph and decreasing speed.
floofy222 8y ago
> Following local news right now it seems people aren't even capable of "Rettungsgasse" (leaving a corridor for emergency vehicle access in traffic jams) anymore The problem with the Rettungsgasse is that you only need one idiot to screw it up, but you often get many. When I enter a traffic jam, I see most cars building it properly, but then I see one or two cars ignoring all others. I can understand that people might forget about it right when they arrive at the traffic jam, but once everybody arounds you do it, some just don't seem to get what's going on. In other countries, like Austria, the Rettungsgasse is formed on the rightmost lanes, while in Germany, its on the left most lanes. Disparity of rules across EU countries doesn't help here either. Also, for some reason, once the first police car goes through the Rettungsgasse, I often see many cars that just stop building it. Like "good job everybody, the police went through, we don't need the Rettungsgasse anymore!" even though there is still a jam. The ambulance comes 1-2 minutes later, and it has to fight its way through because of all these idiots. In Germany the problem with the idiots is particularly bad, because while there are a lot of German idiots on the road, you also get a lot of international traffic with their international idiots on the Autobahn. If you learned to drive in a different country, chances are that you haven't even heard about this, and learning about all the different traffic rules of all the countries you drive through is a PITA.
- shambolicfroli 8y ago
  Basically, "lane splitting" for emergency vehicles. This is smart, we don't have it in the U.S. For more info: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rettungsgasse https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rettungsgasse
  - tomatocracy 8y ago
    Interesting. In the UK we have (or had) a 'hard shoulder' (extra lane unoccupied at all times) on our motorways and some trunk roads for this purpose. The government have decided to get rid of this by moving to what they call 'smart motorways' (repurposing that to a new lane) but without really properly implementing a similar rule change.

baxtr 8y ago

Strange. I see it working in practice 80% of the time... I’m on the road a lot, too. “Rettungsgasse” is something that regained popularity in the last years due to strong media push.

User23 8y ago
It always irritates me when I see people refusing to yield the right-of-way to rescue vehicles.
CalRobert 8y ago
For what it's worth, foreigners driving there may not be aware of the rule. I tried as hard as I could to be a conscientous, informed road user before my first trip to Europe (studied signs, rules of the road, etc.) but still got an angry motorcycle cop whacking my mirror in France because I thought emergency vehicles would pass on the shoulder and had moved over to allow this, not in this Rettungsgasse (or the French equivalent)
- danieldk 8y ago
  What makes it worse is that the rules differ, even in EU countries. In Germany you have to make a 'Rettungsgasse' when there is a traffic jam, whereas e.g. in The Netherlands, emergency services use the 'vluchtstrook' (outermost lanes not used for traffic) in such cases.
  - davedx 8y ago
    Except where they've decided to let regular traffic use the vluchtstrook to drive on. Some roads you just need to be aware that you might need to make room for an emergency vehicle coming between the lanes.
- seszett 8y ago
  That cop was probably angry for another reason, as Rettungsgasse are virtually unheard of in France. Emergency vehicles use the "emergency lane" at the far right of highways.

User23 8y ago

Out of curiosity, which Land are you in?

TheForumTroll 8y ago

1 in 4 is better than 0 in 4, which is what most of the worlds traffic sees outside northern europe. I also don't really believe it is close to as bad as 1 in 4. Studies I have seen seem to say it works almost every time but maybe not perfectly so.

merb 8y ago

actually on the accerlation lane on the german autobahn there is no requirement for a zipper. (https://dejure.org/gesetze/StVO/18.html https://dejure.org/gesetze/StVO/18.html (3)) The ruling was also applied inside the OLG Köln: 24.10.2005 - 16 U 24/05) but there are other courts that ruled like that. (The same ruling applies to "Bundesstraßen")

wil421 8y ago

It’s much worse in my city in the US. People will actually block the lane that is closing forcing you to merge early. Especially if there’s a long line in the open lane. I had it happen the other day.

bluGill 8y ago
That is illegal and you can call the police and report them for it. I don't know if it will do any good but I've wanted to - if only there was a safe way I could do that while driving.
- wil421 8y ago
  I almost hit the guy who did it to me. I couldn’t swerve over because the shoulder was blocked by construction. I’ve been wanting a dashcam. Maybe it’s time to get one.
CabSauce 8y ago
Are they driving at the same speed as the congested lane? That's how it should be done, in my opinion. If driving in the ending lane isn't seen as "getting ahead" and is seen as "using available road without cheating", the behavior could actually change.
- wil421 8y ago
  No congested lane stopped, lane where the zipper merge would happen had at least a half mile of space before cones started forcing a merge. 5 or so cars behind me doing the same merge. I was traveling 15-20mph and decreasing speed.

floofy222 8y ago

> Following local news right now it seems people aren't even capable of "Rettungsgasse" (leaving a corridor for emergency vehicle access in traffic jams) anymore The problem with the Rettungsgasse is that you only need one idiot to screw it up, but you often get many. When I enter a traffic jam, I see most cars building it properly, but then I see one or two cars ignoring all others. I can understand that people might forget about it right when they arrive at the traffic jam, but once everybody arounds you do it, some just don't seem to get what's going on. In other countries, like Austria, the Rettungsgasse is formed on the rightmost lanes, while in Germany, its on the left most lanes. Disparity of rules across EU countries doesn't help here either. Also, for some reason, once the first police car goes through the Rettungsgasse, I often see many cars that just stop building it. Like "good job everybody, the police went through, we don't need the Rettungsgasse anymore!" even though there is still a jam. The ambulance comes 1-2 minutes later, and it has to fight its way through because of all these idiots. In Germany the problem with the idiots is particularly bad, because while there are a lot of German idiots on the road, you also get a lot of international traffic with their international idiots on the Autobahn. If you learned to drive in a different country, chances are that you haven't even heard about this, and learning about all the different traffic rules of all the countries you drive through is a PITA.

shambolicfroli 8y ago
Basically, "lane splitting" for emergency vehicles. This is smart, we don't have it in the U.S. For more info: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rettungsgasse https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rettungsgasse
- tomatocracy 8y ago
  Interesting. In the UK we have (or had) a 'hard shoulder' (extra lane unoccupied at all times) on our motorways and some trunk roads for this purpose. The government have decided to get rid of this by moving to what they call 'smart motorways' (repurposing that to a new lane) but without really properly implementing a similar rule change.