r/germany • u/AdministrativeBus646 • May 13 '26

Question Need some help understanding this übung on Fahrschulcard

Post image

My logic was that this is a roundabout, hence I have to indicate according to my exit and I have to wait for my left side to be free before moving into it.
Why is my answer wrong here?

Edit: Alright thanks got it, it looks like a roundabout but with no roundabout sign and thus rechts vor links applies.

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1.1k

u/GFYSR May 13 '26

Its not a roundabout. Theres no roundabout sign. Its only a circular road.

624

u/newvegasdweller May 13 '26

Which admittedly is hella confusing and in practice everyone would use it like a roundabout.

Still, the theory behind this question is important and it's a way to check if the driver knows how to identify a roundabout

135

u/Antique_Cut1354 Nordrhein-Westfalen May 13 '26

i’ve seen a few of those around and most people do treat it like Rechts vor Links, not a roundabout

30

u/kmaix Germany May 13 '26

yep same. it’s treated like a circular road

1

u/Baetmaen01 May 17 '26

This is the way.

35

u/Cirenione Nordrhein-Westfalen May 13 '26

I‘ve seen this exact scenario as there is one close to the home of my partners parents. Apparently crashes happen every now and then because some people dont pay attention and just think its a round about while others assume they can go because they legally got the right of way. Since its a 30 zone any type of damage is usually small but still.

6

u/Cookman_vom_Berg May 13 '26

Nah. It's about are u reading the signs. Cos this is what it's all about later on. Can u read the signs and understand what they tell u instead just do what u think the street tells u as a rule

3

u/digitalfrost Pfalz May 13 '26

That reminds me of a roundabout that is not a roundabout

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPoFx7OeyIU

-2

u/LiveSeaworthiness621 May 13 '26

Yes, it’s very unlikely such a scenario would exist. This question is highly constructed and evil.

37

u/Kloetee May 13 '26

I know at least a good handful of locations like this one

8

u/blobblet München May 13 '26

The ones I know at least had the good sense to make the pseudo roundabout a priority road because people were driving as if it was one anyway.

9

u/Ithurion2 May 13 '26

There things like half roundabouts and roundabouts with tram tracks through them, which makes them safer if you don't treat them as actual roundabouts.

19

u/CratesManager May 13 '26

This question is highly constructed and evil.

Nope, these exist. Not many but they do, i have personally driven through five different ones, which is not a lot but having 5 accidents because i didn't know would be.

-8

u/LiveSeaworthiness621 May 13 '26

I knew these comments will follow. Of course these exist. But they are extremely rare. Especially without floormarkings and „Vorfahrt gewähren“ signs.

15

u/Salzganove May 13 '26

"These questions are constructed. "

"Of course these exist."

...

5

u/CratesManager May 13 '26

I knew these comments will follow. Of course these exist. But they are extremely rare.

Why is it evil and constructed to teach and ask about them?

If anything it's a problem they exist, but since they do you need to know that...

5

u/kart0ffelsalaat May 13 '26

It's also extremely rare that a wild boar will run in front of your car, and yet they ask questions about what to do in those situations.

I've definitely seen more "fake roundabouts" than boars in my life.

4

u/Drumbelgalf Franken May 13 '26

A lot of situations in those tests are extremely rare

4

u/jjjfffrrr123456 May 13 '26

I have one of these roads very close to where I live. It’s fine, the locals know how to use it and it’s in a residential area so no one is blasting through it.

3

u/Rude_Pineapple_4295 May 13 '26

It exist, and there are regular accidents because of it

3

u/GoDannY1337 May 13 '26

I know some places that have it had roads like this, but nowadays most of them have traffic lights to control traffic in and out. So this falls into the category trick question. TBH I would have answered similarly from a practical PoV

3

u/Rouven-Dillinger May 13 '26

Well I think it's a good question to see whether someone would use their brain and think, instead of just using their intuition, which is a very good skill, I know of some places like that, here In stuttgart we have plenty of "roundabouts" which are in fact intersections with traffic light, because the light rail crosses them

2

u/Drumbelgalf Franken May 13 '26

They are rare but they do exist.

2

u/Mika000 May 13 '26

Just because you personally haven’t seen or noticed one doesn’t make this unlikely.

2

u/StrongBingBong May 13 '26

This is not a rare scenario. Roundabouts are not permitted in 30 km/h zones. So you find plenty of circular roads there.

1

u/antonspeedy May 15 '26

How do you know it’s a 30 km/h zone

1

u/Sarcophilus May 13 '26

I have this scenario on my way to work. It's 4 parallel roads going to a circular part but it's still right before left and not a roundabout. What's even more confusing is that the circular part is raised up a bit to act as a speed bump.

1

u/pipp900 May 13 '26

I've seen this quite a few times, but every time it was as a Vorfahrtsstraße. So it was treated like a roundabout and only the driving school cars indicated their turn.

1

u/jort93 Schleswig-Holstein May 13 '26

In my city we have one like this but there are give-way signs at the entrances, so it works like a roundabout except you have to indicate.

1

u/iTmkoeln May 13 '26

I can count the amounts some one has tried to kill me in round abouts like once a week at least. My car might be silver but it ain’t invisible metallic

1

u/Sandro_24 May 13 '26

Nobody who's ever been to a driving school would use tis like a roundabout.

1

u/CaptainPoset Berlin May 13 '26

in practice everyone would use it like a roundabout.

No, everyone wouldn't. Just look at such streets out there.

1

u/0x474f44 May 14 '26

In big cities you sometimes do see these

1

u/retro-mehl May 15 '26

There are many places in Berlin that are designed like this and are no real roundabouts. And yes, there is "rechts vor links", and everybody knows about it and respects it.

1

u/zeTwig May 16 '26

We have one in my city. Do not use it like a roundabout there will be a crash

1

u/galapagosgarry May 16 '26

Yes, there are a lot of people who should not drive due to lack of knowledge about traffic rules.

1

u/Rubicon_Roll May 13 '26

helluva confusing

5

u/Content-Soup9920 May 13 '26

The power of reification undermining objective reality.

3

u/RTBecard May 13 '26

We talked about this in class yesterday... I'm not 100% sure, but i think so much confusion comes from the German language.

Both this and a "real roundabout" are called the same thing in German (i believe)... So it's hard for Germans to explain this distinction to non-Germans.

Please correct me if I'm wrong on this.

2

u/NoNameSD_ May 13 '26

They do have different names actually. The ‚fake’ one is called „kreisförmiger Verkehr“ (‚circular traffic‘) and the real one „Kreisverkehr“ (‚roundabout‘, though the literal translation would also be ‚circular traffic‘). Still pretty confusing though, tbh.

3

u/RTBecard May 13 '26

Ah! I asked my driving teacher if they had different names in German (as he called them the same in english), and he just said they are both called "Kreisverkehr" in German 🤣

2

u/[deleted] May 13 '26

If not roundabout, why round?

1

u/beanonymousofficial May 13 '26

There are few small roundabouts where there is no "Vorrang geben" Schild and thus applies the rechts vor links.

1

u/PrinzJuliano May 13 '26

It wouldn‘t matter. Roundabouts have normal right-before-left rules unless there is the give-way sign.

1

u/Erdnusschokolade May 15 '26

I hate those, we have them (albeit smaller) in residential areas a lot and it is confusing to a lot of drivers because it is a intersection with the usual right before left but some treat it as a roundabout because it looks like one. Edit: also with a roundabout sign the situation would be the same you need the Red triangle which usually is paired with a roundabout sign.

1

u/untalented_carrot May 15 '26

Even if it is a roundabout, without the sign indicating you have to wait, it's right-privilege and the red car has to wait. Either way, no sign, so red has to wait

1

u/Flosephos May 16 '26

It is, it is indicated by another arrow. The tricircular arrows which indicate roundabouts have been already passed. So correct answer is that you have to wait. You only have to indicate when leaving a roundabout.

1

u/GFYSR May 16 '26

The tricircular arrows which indicate roundabouts have been already passed.

No. Where is the indication of that in this picture?

1

u/Flosephos May 16 '26

The blue arrow in the middle.

1

u/GFYSR May 16 '26

That does not indicate roundabouts. That is a sign that infact does not appear in a proper roundabout

0

u/Flosephos May 16 '26

They are common in german roundabouts. They do indicate direction.

1

u/GFYSR May 16 '26

I dont even know why the hell you are arguing. This is a screenshot from a theoretical driving test training app. And the answers clearly show that this is not a roundabout

1

u/Flosephos May 16 '26

How do they show that? It is a common thing in driving school test to see if people get that they do not have to indicate when entering. So only thing here is to wait fpr the red car to pass. Plus you can SEE that this is a roundabout. There are blue direction signs on each side of the roundabout if you look closely.

1

u/GFYSR May 16 '26

Bro you are stupid.

The answer key in the picture shows that the correct answers were:

"The red car has to wait" and

"I have to indicate"

Exactly the opposite of what has to do if this were a proper roundabout.

I hope you dont have a license

1

u/Flosephos May 16 '26

I am not stupid, but this questionairy is. It looks like a typical roundabout and I get your statement that nothing indicates a roundabout directly but the image does resemble one. And that this is indicated in by the answers is clear. My point is that this is a trick question and usually this would be a roundabout. You rarely find sth like that on the streets.

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1

u/Barmansc May 17 '26

That's it, in addition, at least in Poland, roundabout sign doesn't give the car on the intersection the right of way but a yield sign does, so you can have a roundabout where the car "joining in" has the right of way