Updated: 26. October 2024

Let's do away with super-long introductions. I really dislike studying for tests, and the German theoretical driving test is QUITE a study challenge. While the test itself only has 30 questions, those are drawn from a set of 1200 different (but somewhat redundant) questions that you should study in order to pass. The test is quite unforgiving when it comes to getting answers wrong, and often several selections per answer need to be picked in order for it to be correct.

In this post we'll tackle the most important bit first: The "numbers questions" -  numbers having to do with speeds, distances, and measurements, mostly. They're hard because they're pretty random, and there's no way you can guess or deduce the right answers - you just have to know them. So, without further ado, let's study them and take this quiz so you'll remember most of them forever (or at least until the test is over). 

1) Reaction, Braking, and Stopping Distances

This is a super weird one (or three) but it comes up ALL THE TIME in driving classes and is very likely to appear in the German theoretical driving test you'll be taking. It’s weird because it’s a set of related formulas that you will have ABSOLUTELY no chance of actually recalling while you’re behind the wheel – rendering them purely theoretically useful. They’re also almost certainly not even really accurate, just rules of thumb. But you need to know them:

Reaction Distance (Reaktionsweg): Imagine you’re driving at 100 km/h. You see some type of craziness in front of you (maybe a deer that’s jumped onto the road) that you have to react to. The point of the Reaktionsweg is the amount of distance you’ll have already covered before your brain realizes what’s going on and can give your appendages the signal to do something about it. And that formula is (YOUR SPEED / 10) * 3 = Reaction distance in meters. All mathematical conventions regarding units aside, this would make your reaction distance 30 meters (because 100 km/h divided by 10 is 10, and 10 multiplied by 3 is 30). So your car will have already come 30 meters closer to the disturbance between the time your eyes saw it and your brain being able to react to it.

Braking Distance (Bremsweg): This is the distance your car will travel between stepping on the brake and the car coming to a complete stop. It’s (YOUR SPEED /10) * (YOUR SPEED /10) = braking distance in meters. So if you’re going 100 km/h then it will take you 100 meters between stepping on the brake and coming to a stop. If you’re going 50 km/h then the Bremsweg is 25 meters (notice that the braking distance quadruples as your speed doubles, meaning that if your speed is halved (from 100 km/h to 50 km/h), the braking distance is reduced to a quarter (from 100 meters to 25 meters). This is a fact driving instructors like to talk about. IMPORTANT: If you do an emergency braking maneuver (Gefahrenbremsung), where you step on the brake with all your might, the final result is halved. So if you brake like you really mean it, at 100 km/h, the distance to stop will be 50 m, not 100m.

Stopping Distance (Anhalteweg): Logically, you’ll need to add your reaction distance to the braking distance in order to determine the total distance you’ll cover between your brain registering that something is up ahead, until the car comes to a complete stop. So, the stopping distance is the reaction distance plus the braking distance. Or, if we put it pseudo-mathematically: (YOUR SPEED /10) * 3 + (YOUR SPEED /10) * (YOUR SPEED /10) = Stopping Distance in meters

Now, even though I am pretty sure this is the kind of formula you won’t be actively noodling through in a real emergency, it’s meant to sensitize you to the fact that the faster you drive, the farther your car will need to travel before it is physically able to come to a halt. If you go 100 km/h, your stopping distance is 30 m + 100 m = 130 m  if you’re braking normally, and 30 m + 50 m = 80 m if you’re braking like you’ve never broken before. Note, of course, that the reaction distance does not change no matter how hard you want to brake.

Note also that what’s being described with all of these is an idealized scenario where you’re alert, the road is dry, you have the right tire pressure, etc. In a realistic scenario, those distances would be larger.

The next time you’re on an Autobahn or country road in Germany, take note of the white reflective posts on the side of the road (delineator posts). When the road is straight, they are always 50m apart from one another. This is a good thing to know (also because it might appear on the German theoretical driving test), and it can help you get a good feeling for what a lot of these numbers mean. If you’re going 100 km/h (which is the speed limit on country roads), it will take the length of roughly two of those posts to come to a stop if you’re seeing trouble up ahead.

2) Speed Limits

Let’s talk about speed limits in Germany. While Germany’s famous for having “no speed limits on the Autobahn” (which is not always the case btw), it certainly makes up for on other roads.

Some other important speeds to know for the German theoretical driving test: In order to use a Kraftfahrtstraße (a highway/motorway similar to an Autobahn but it can have intersections and traffic lights) or an Autobahn (absolutely no intersections or traffic lights, which is why its sign features a bridge going over it), your vehicle needs to be capable of going OVER 60 km/h. That means, no bikes or electric bikes on these roads (when I was in my early 30s, I did not know this and often found myself and my bike sucked onto a Kraftfahrstraße, which was NOT  FUN). Note that OVER 60 km/h means that a vehicle that can do a maximum of 60 km/h is not acceptable, but 61 km/h is.

When you’re on the actual Autobahn there are often speed limits indicated – but when there aren’t, you should be aware of the so-called Richtgeschwindigkeit, which means the recommended speed of 130 km/h. This is a good one to know. This recommended speed also applies to Kraftfahrstraßen outside of town with either at least two lanes in each direction, or a physical constructed divider between lanes in each direction.

If you are in a pedestrian walking zone (verkehrsberuhigter Bereich), the speed limit is walking speed, which is 7 km/h. If there’s fog and or can only see up to 50 m ahead (remember, that’s five delineator posts), the maximum speed limit is 50 km/h.

When you have snow chains, your maximum allowed speed is 50 km/h.

There are some more speed limit questions having to do with trucks and trailers, and heavy vehicles, but those go a bit beyond the scope of this blog post, which is focused on the most common and important things to know for the theoretical German driving test. In other cases having to do with heavy vehicles, the answer is usually 80 km/h (obviously make sure you actually know these things if you’re planning on driving trucks and/or attaching trailers!)

3) Leaving Space between Things

When the test question asks how far you’re allowed to stop or park away from something (like a bus stop or a railway intersection), the answer will usually have the number 5 in it. Also keep in mind that how far away you park from something outside of a town/village (remember, außerhalb geschlossener Ortschaften, where the speed limit is 100 km/h) is farther than within town limits (where the speed limit is 50 km/h), in order to compensate for the fact that people are going faster and need more time to react and stop. For example, the distance that you can stop or park in front of a railroad crossing (in German the sign at a railroad crossing is called Andreaskreuz), is 5 meters when you’re inside a town, and 50 meters when you’re outside of a town.

Parking in front of an intersection or junction (T-intersection) is 5 meters, but if there’s a bike path on the sidewalk, it’s 8 meters. The idea here is that cars taking a right turn are able to see approaching bikes on their right without your parked car blocking the view.

Parking is prohibited for 15 meters in front of and behind bus stop signs. And stopping is only allowed up to three minutes.

You must leave 3 m space between your car and the lane boundary (Fahrstreifenbegrenzung) when parked, so that other vehicles can still get by.

When passing a pedestrian, you must leave at least 1.5 meters space between you and them. When passing a parked car, leave at least 1 meter space. When passing a cyclist, leave 1.5 meters if you're in an "Ortschaft" (remember, with the yellow sign) and 2 meters if you're not.

Also remember this rule of thumb: You should keep a distance of half your speedometer (but in meters, not km/h) to the car in front of you, in order to be safe. So if you’re going 100 km/h, you should be at least 50 meters behind the car in front of you. Within an Ortschaft, keep 3 car-lengths between you and the car in front of you.

If you're driving, say, a tall vehicle, which when parked would obscure a sign or traffic light from other cars, you must park 10 meters behind the light or sign (railway crossing or yield or stop signs).

Parking in front of zebra stripes is at least 5 meters. 5 meters is also the distance between two cars if one is towing the other.

4) Other Important Numbers

Let's have a look at the last set of important numbers to remember for the German theoretical driving test. On this page we'll cover most numbers but not all. As you can imagine, when you add somewhat out-of-the-ordinary conditions, such as driving a truck or motorcycle, or attaching a trailer or an awkward load to your car (which may or may not need to be illuminated or marked with a flag), and details surrounding the points you earn for infractions, there are a few more numbers to take into account. Those are likely to be on the test, too, but they would implode the scope of this particular blog post so I'll save those for another time. In this last section we'll have a last look at some very common figures that come up all the time in driving school and the test.

The tread depth of the tires (Profiltiefe) needs to be at least 1.6 millimeters. Believe it or not, for some reason this fact is central to the whole driving school experience.

This one I'll simplify: Trucks are not allowed to drive on Sundays in Germany, from midnight until 10pm.

Your car needs an official checkup ("Hauptuntersuchung" or often just known as "TÜV") every two years. If your car is brand new, it'll need the first one after three years.

If you are getting a drivers' license that is class B, you can drive a vehicle with a total mass of 3.5 tons (this is a very common one). When parking on sidewalks is permitted, you may only do so if your vehicle weights up to 2.8 tons.

The probation period for new drivers is 2 years. Within this time period your blood alcohol content must be 0 when driving. Same if you are under 21 years of age.

It takes one hour for each 0.1 per mille of alcohol to be metabolized by the body. In general, if there are number questions about drugs/alcohol, it usually helps to pick the most extreme possibility presented.

A car must be less than 2.55 meters in width, and 4 meters in height.

Ok, that's it!! Take the quiz on the top of the page to see how much of this you retained. I recommend either re-reading this or taking the quiz again until you get 100%. Much success with the German theoretical driving test and let me know your feedback about this article anytime!