Driving in Germany often feels like an exercise in trusting logic over instinct, perhaps more so than in many other countries
Few rules illustrate this better than Reißverschlussverfahren – a system that can feel maddening in the moment, but which is designed to keep everyone moving.
What does Reißverschlussverfahren mean?
Das Reißverschlussverfahren is the German word for what English speakers call a “zip merge” or “zipper merge”. Grammatically, it is a compound noun made up of Reißverschluss (zip) and Verfahren (method or procedure).
The image is simple enough: when two lanes become one – for example because of roadworks – vehicles should merge alternately, one at a time, like the interlocking teeth of a zip.
Germans are so convinced by the logic of das Reißverschlussverfahren that they’ve even written it into law. Under Section 7, Paragraph 4 of the Straßenverkehrs-Ordnung (StVO), drivers must allow vehicles from a terminating lane to merge in turn.
In theory, deliberately blocking someone could result in a fine.
Why do I need to know Reißverschlussverfahren?
Few concepts capture German faith in rational systems quite so perfectly. Is there another country similarly convinced that people can be persuaded to set aside instinct and emotion, confident that others will do the same and that everyone will end up benefiting collectively?
This faith appears to be particularly pronounced when it comes to driving. Newcomers to the country will also see it in rechts vor links (the rule requiring drivers to give way to traffic approaching from the right at unmarked junctions) and the Rettungsgasse (an emergency corridor which drivers here create for emergency vehicles).
Arguably, you can also see it in the well-known determination of German pedestrians to wait at red traffic lights, even when there isn’t a car in sight.
Use it like this:
Bei dem Unfall da vorne gilt das Reißverschlussverfahren.
Because of the accident up ahead, the zip merge rule applies.
Viele Autofahrer verstehen das Reißverschlussverfahren einfach nicht und wechseln viel zu früh die Spur.
A lot of drivers simply don't understand the zip merge system and change lanes far too early.
In Deutschland ist das Reißverschlussverfahren laut StVO Pflicht, wenn ein Fahrstreifen endet.
In Germany, the zip merge is mandatory under the Road Traffic Regulations whenever a lane ends.
Lass bitte noch ein Auto vor uns rein – wir müssen hier das Reißverschlussverfahren einhalten.
Please let one more car in front of us, we need to follow the zip merge rule here.
