German drivers create lane for emergency vehicles responding to a major collision🚨

Drivers on a German motorway (The Autobahn) part traffic to create a perfect emergency corridor for rescue services to reach the scene of a major multi-vehicle pile-up outside of Mannheim. This video shows a variety of heavy rescue trucks, fire engines, ambulances, command vehicles and police cars using the free lane to get through.
The process is known as the Rettungsgasse, or Rescue Alley, and it is the law in Germany to move over and create this extra lane for emergency services when traffic comes to a stand-still. While it doesn't always go to plan, drivers on the Bundesautobahn 61 (A61) were quick to react and create the rescue lane by moving to the far sides of their own lane - even before the first rescue vehicles came through.
The incident was a multi-vehicle collision involving several trucks and trailers. A rescue helicopter transported a patient to hospital. Read about the incident here: www.mrn-news.de/2023/03/02/lu...
Credit is given where due to the drivers, and of course the emergency services who were able to get on-scene very quickly.
Recorded: March 2nd, 2023
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[@ThePrincessSedna]

Danke an alle die die Rettungsgasse eingehalten haben. Gott schütze euch!

[@a64738]

Yes ;) It is a shame other countries do not have the same rule to make "Rettungsgasse"...

[@MacTaipan]

Wenn es Gott interessieren würde, bräuchte man keine Rettungsgasse.

[@benmacca1]

I use the Rettungsgasse here in England, people look at me like I’m weird or I’m impatient but then they realise when a police car slips by without a problem.

[@ThePrincessSedna]

Thank you, every little help ist help. God bless you. Karma smile at you. @@benmacca1

[@ThePrincessSedna]

Irgendwo fängt Selbstverwaltung an. Ich hoffe du und deine lieben bleiben von einer nicht eingehaltenen Rettungsgasse verschont!@@MacTaipan

[@pamelamorgan7354]

I’m in US. Seconds matter in an emergency. People over here don’t understand you have to move to the right and stop for emergency vehicles.

[@rebeccafionacornel6558]

True! i live in India..... and we face the same problem as you do in US and UK.

[@bluelightblits7833]

You would never see this in the UK lmao 😂

[@cowboy10uk]

Which is why it’s takes us forever to reach accident scenes now. How I wish U.K. drivers would start doing this, it would make our lives and cleanup times so so much quicker.

[@christopherlock437]

So true that

[@EV-Diary]

Very true, the lack of any hard shoulder on most roads doesn’t help as the traffic has nowhere to go

[@christopherlock437]

Our motorways 🛣️ are horrendous for delays for our emergency services cause they can’t get through the traffic half the time

[@rebeccafionacornel6558]

@@christopherlock437 agreed! i basically think many countries would honestly benefit with idea..... because it makes the work of the rescue and medic units so much easier..... but well, one the other hand, i personally think that this idea of "Rettungsgasse" or "Rescue Alley" won't change a thing in some countries, like in India... in fact, this will just make our traffic problems far worse...... and we already have such a huge traffic problem in India.....and yes, i am a native of India, so yup, i can speak about some issues we Indian civilians see on our roads...... the National Highways are always the most dangerous points in our Indian road system..... but our Indian city roads are far worse due to huge pits and ditches and bumps in the middle of our roads and also the fact that cattle have free reign on our roads as well.... plus even our footpaths are not safe to be totally honest..... i actually ended up falling in a ditch in the middle of a footpath trying to get out of the way of a photo shoot my aunt was having, in the dark on 21st August 2021...... i actually ended up spraining my right ankle at the edge of the ditch and then ended up falling on my right wrist, which was also at the edge and thus i suffered a "Displacement" (as the doctors called it) along with a fracture that went across my wrist horizontally and not vertically..... the problem in my case was that i went to the doctor only after 10 hours after the fall.... and the fall was so simple that even my parents actually thought that i had just sprained my wrist like my ankle and thought that i was just making a huge fuss out of nothing..... so i had to deal with that pain time the next day when one of my other aunts' came to check on me and she noticed that i couldn't move my fingers..... and that's when my mum told my dad to get an X-ray done and that's how they actually found out about the fracture and displacement...... and they were told that i had to get either a K pin or a metal plate inserted into my right wrist.... and also the doctors asked me about my bone structure and i told them that i had extremely flexible bones and they asked if i had dislocated my bones before and i said that i had just a very minor dislocation in my left knee just while climbing steps but it had come back to it's place on it's own almost immediately.... and also i personally thought that this could be the reason for the fracture and the dislocation (or displacement) i suffered..... but the ditch in the footpath where i fell was not just deep but very large and very wide as well and where i was stuck was between my younger cousin who was taking her mother's photo shoot and the ditch that was starting right in front of her.... so yes! the ditches become death traps mainly during the Monsoon season, mainly due to the rain water getting collected in them..... So in India, personally speaking, this idea won't work.....plus the amount of road rage and the fact that some Indian drivers are really very unruly and also the terrible traffic that we already have.....

[@112VideoZaanstad]

Jeez! That's a good one. I have seen this situation on my trip to Austria this week. A 'stau' formed, because it was very busy on the road. Result people immediately made this rettungsgasse Even that no accident had happened up there. Great video man!

[@ThePrincessSedna]

Ja, lieber mal die Rettungsgasse bilden als dass man sie braucht und Chaos dann entsteht! Gut ja nicht weh sie einzuhalten, für den Fall der fälle.!

[@mrdando]

It's required by Germany law to give way

[@A_S12042]

Same in the UK but doesn’t mean that a good gesture has to be made like this it’s actually two lanes and the emergency vehicles are going between the two.

[@darklordchris]

Same in the US, but the whole "World revolves around me while I'm in my car" mentality plaques the US and hinders sensible driving and EMS vehicles from getting too the scene to get it cleaned up fast.

[@agentmufinka8166]

A beautiful corridor of life. In Poland, some drivers started to drive against the flow along this corridor... (this is a real situation)

[@CobraEmergency]

That's bad! They shouldn't do that unless instructed by police.

[@rebeccafionacornel6558]

@@CobraEmergency true

[@ThePrincessSedna]

In Deutschland kann man den Führerschein verlieren wenn man dies tut!

[@HEROS112112]

Very Good Catch! Firetrucks are Rescue-Pumper 2, Battalion Chief, EMS-Doctor-Chief, EMS-Supervisor, Rescue-Pumper 1, Hevay Rescue Truck 1, Foam/Powder-Tanker 1, Carrier-Truck with HazMat-Container, Logistic/Transport-Van

[@jfffmar]

Glaube sogar, dass das MAN HLF der "Rescue-Pumper 3" ist. Aber wollen wir mal nicht so genau sein

[@Nobrun1]

Very good and very civilized of Germany.

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

some awesome high quality content; Glad you came across a traffic jam where the emergency corridor was this perfect! At 4:36 you can see the co-driver of the unmarked Kodiaq recording it Did you expect that so many emergency vehicles would respond to this incident? Btw super rare to see the DLRG German Life Saving Association respond to any kind of incident on a highway Also very rare to see emergency vehicles leaving the scene driving through the emergency corridor the wrong way ... obviously only if they can't go past the accident scene

[@rebeccafionacornel6558]

then the accident must have been pretty big to block the actual emergency return route.... and well since someone said that the accident involved three trucks and the drivers were seriously injured, then the blocked emergency return route would be understandable..... and actually i don't think any Indian would try and break any kind of rule in Germany..... because the fines, if you convert it into Indian Rupees would be VERY hefty and even our own hefty Indian rule breaking fines are not this hefty.... i mean, 280 Euros fine is like 24,367.89 Indian Rupees or 298.21 US Dollars or 247.79 Pounds Sterling.... along with 2 penalty points and a month's ban on driving? MAN! that is quiet a hefty fine when it comes to breaking traffic rules! I must say, THIS RULE IS A MUST, in my country, India....... Sir, you really know a lot about these things when it comes to the videos and also you are very observant because of the information you just gave........ anyway, i hope that you have an amazing day today and everyday.... Stay safe, protected and blessed always.......

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

@@rebeccafionacornel6558 that someone was me; I looked up the press report released with some information and on scene pictures

[@rebeccafionacornel6558]

@@EnjoyFirefighting EXCELLENT! 🙂! thank you for the info! 🙂

[@CobraEmergency]

Thanks for watching. It was good to see the process in action, and to see it work out so well also. The Kodiaq crew must have been impressed with how efficient the lane was. Once I saw drivers moving to one side and we weren't going anywhere, I had a feeling there would be a sizable emergency response as I know you do on the autobahn, but not quite as many special units as those. When I began to see the heavy kit and the helicopter, I knew it was serious. And furthermore when the emergency vehicles came back I knew it must have been serious enough to block the route. Plus the police got us all to turn around and go back down the wrong side of the autobahn. That and the excavator suggested to me the road was damaged and would be closed for the rest of the day. Thank you.

[@DutchRailroads]

German drivers that are creating a lane for emergency vehicles. That is called: Rettungsgasse

[@rebeccafionacornel6558]

That's really an amazing thing for the drivers in Germany to do actually speaking! i think that other countries, not just India, would really benefit with the use of this idea since it really makes the rescue and medical units reach their spot on time..... so i'd say "Great job" to everyone in Germany for practicing this Rettungsgasse..... Either way, i hope that you and everyone at your side have an amazing day today and everyday......... stay safe, protected and blessed always.... 🙂

[@jokeboy_rblxrblx2006]

I hope everyone makes a good recovery.

[@benmacca1]

Here in England I use the Rettungsgasse, loads of people look at me weird. When a police car goes past without a problem then people realise. It needs to be made a law here.

[@alle_emergency]

Awesome video!

[@CobraEmergency]

Thanks!

[@EinsatzfahrtenOesterreich]

Great video, you did a good job filming from the car! :D

[@A_S12042]

Hope everyone is ok. Autobahn has no speed limit 🤞🏽

[@EinsatzfahrtenOesterreich]

In certain parts it hasn't.

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

three drivers severly injured, but this accident involved three trucks which have a rather lot speed limit of 80 kph / 50 mph

[@rebeccafionacornel6558]

@@EnjoyFirefighting oh geeze! i guess that it would have been a pretty gruesome mess..... but i must say that the rescue units and medics must be made of some seriously stern stuff, because the sight of such serious accidents and the body injuries could make some people quiet queezy.... and i really will say that i feel grateful for have such kind humans in this world.... but i guess that the trucks must be empty to travel this fast to end up crashing into each other..... which is to some extent a negatively positive point, because if these trucks were full of the stuff they were carrying, they would have been much more careful when it comes to speed and also i have notices similar situations in India when i and my family used to travel to my native place and in India we had to pass the Western Ghats in the southern part of India and on our way we would see a line of trucks carrying petroleum or other natural gas going up these hills and they would be going very slow.... while on another point in that place, we would see trucks of natural gas or petroleum just zoom past us, as they were returning..... and my mum always told me that the trucks that sped past us were empty because if they were full they would have been heavy and would have had to be careful due to the contents..... But either way, i honestly hope that these three truck drivers are doing fine now......

[@rebeccafionacornel6558]

@@EinsatzfahrtenOesterreich i think that after this incident it will start to have speed limits in general.... just for safety reasons and to honestly prevent such accidents..... 😞

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

@@rebeccafionacornel6558 trucks already have a very low speed limit of only 80 kph / 50 mph; It's unnecessary to discuss a speed limit for cars when a serious accident like this involved trucks only

[@rogmorts1]

This has been in place in Germany for years now, even when just queuing in normal traffic vehicles move left and right to ensure the road is clear if needed. I think it is part of Germany's driving laws. Unfortunately with the lack of personal discipline in the UK, this could never happen here.

[@a64738]

Yes. When traffic is slow or stopping it is the law to make this emergency corridor in case it is needed, all countries should make the same rule...

[@rogmorts1]

@@a64738 I totally agree 👍

[@warsawrescue]

Super 👍👍👍

[@beautybrainsbrawn]

You know, I wish that there was a dedicated lane for emergency and military vehicles in times of crisis. Is it at all possible?

[@sandymcghee3328]

Awesome video I hope everyone is okay 👍👍

[@rebeccafionacornel6558]

Apparently three truck drivers were severly injured because the accident involved three trucks

[@emergencyitalia]

Amazing Video!!

[@a64738]

After watching many emergency vehicles responding in Germany I started to wonder how the cars could know in advance that something bad was happening before long before any blue light and sirens was coming. Then I read in comments it is mandatory to ALWAYS make a corridor like this when traffic is slow or stopping, all countries should have that same rule !!!

[@tbn.z900]

basically, the first on scene turn on the warning indicator and the others behind them see it and turn it on too, everyone then knows there is a accident or just traffic. the vehicles in the left lane drive instandly completely left and the right and middle lane completely right so the gap is always between the left and middle lane. if you don't do it it can cost you nowadays i think up to 3000 euros and i i think if there are people that died because of you, they will sentence you for things. if its on me, i increase the ticket even more up to 10k because thats what people hurt, and they will not do it again.

[@YelpBullhorn]

Just the sort of glucose boost every firefighter needs at #4:42...... a Malteser wagon. Nice! 👍

[@Doc_Rainbow]

the guy on the Passanger Seat looks like a Famile Member because he has no Uniform, Probably his Friend or Familie Member is in the Back with the Other Paramedic there got Injured in the back because the little Mercedes "NEF" is the Emergency Doctor Car, its allways Staffed with 1 Doctor and 1 Paramedic, the Doctor is also Missing, so probably in one of these Ambulances :)

[@RonRPL]

It costs 200 € if you wont create emergency corridor...

[@rebeccafionacornel6558]

you mean 280 Euros! wow! that is some fine fine! so i think this emergency corridor is surely a MUST have in every country if you ask me....because this emergency corridor would make any rescue, police or even medic unit's life WAY more easier...... and if you calculate it in Indian Rupees it would be 24,367.89 Indian Rupees, while in UK Pounds it will be 247.79 Pounds Sterling and in US Dollars it would be 298.21 US Dollars just for making way for emergency units..... Ha! this DEFINITELY HAS TO BE USED in my country, India..... this will keep my country's traffic problems in check..... i mean, a fine of 17,405 Indian Rupees is no joke, at least for an Indian who just thinks of going fast without a care about their or other people's safety.... In India the average salary payment for a Medical Professional ranges from 100,000 Indian Rupees (for just the general practitioners) to around more than 1,000,000 Indian Rupees (for the medical experts) per year.... while Data Scientists get 1,000,000 as an average salary per year.... so being a Data Scientist in India is just one of the highest paying jobs we have..... and just to pay a fine like this would be like spending half your life's earnings in just one go! WOW! you sure won't find an Indian breaking the law in Germany any time soon at this rate!

[@PTRRanger951]

Amazing. You would never see that in the US. Ever! Every single one of those cars would immediately move back into traffic each time an emergency vehicle passes. It never occurs to them that more maybe coming. And if it was stopped for more than 2 minutes they would all be out of their cars. Just like they started doing here. But it would happen as soon as they stopped. Even at road construction, where they may only be stopped for 5 minutes. Everyone has to get out and stand right in the opposite travel lanes, they have no clue what a shoulder is.

[@a64738]

In Germany it is the law to make this corridor every time traffic is slow or stopping in case it is needed, it is not done only when there is an emergency...

[@PTRRanger951]

@@a64738 yes I know. That’s why you won’t see it in the US. People won’t care if there is a law or not. They will just get back into the lane.

[@einsatzfahrten_112]

amazing

[@hrsmrt9292]

High trust society and ethics is answers why🇩🇪✅

[@emergencykyiv]

hello, what are you shooting for?, it looks cool)

[@martindonat3249]

Wenn du im Stau stehst und soviele Rettungs und Feuerwehrfahrzeuge an dir vorbeirollen dann weißt du das der Tag gelaufen ist

[@LightsandSirens]

3:57 so cool to see they still use the old vehicles ! why buy new if the old still work good ??? nice video !!

[@CobraEmergency]

Yeah it was pretty cool to see. May as well make use of it, if it's safe and working. Thanks!

[@Doc_Rainbow]

these older units are very important with them you can drive into Water at Floods and stuff, when you do that with a new one its instantly Dead becasue of all the Electronics xD

[@LightsandSirens]

@@Doc_Rainbow i know here in my street is a father and son son has a old volov father a new 1 the new volov is in 6 months 4 times called back to the dealer for a problem after driving in s rain storm 😆

[@petebrown9187]

Haha that'll never happen in Australia.! Too many scared steering wheel attendants and not enough confident drivers.

[@davidck1]

Why move 1000 vehicles when you can use the existing emergency lane?

[@SaveLiveTV]

Because the emergency lane is used for broken down vehicles. Imagine if you use the emergency lane to respond to an accident further ahead, but there´s a broken down vehicle already using the emergency lane, you and all the emergency vehicles following you are now left completely stuck.

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

because that's the breakdown lane, not an emergency vehicle driving lane. The standard width is just as wide as a commercial truck chassis without (!) side mirrors; While smaller emergency vehicles would fit through, most fire trucks are based on a commercial truck chassis; With only one semi truck driving a bit too far to the right, they'd have no chance to pass them . Then there are hard shoulders which are narrower than the standard width, and there are also sections which don't have a hard shoulder at all. Especially old sections, mountainious sections, tunnels, urban environment with one exit following directly after a previous on-ramp etc, There are also hard shoulders which are exactly as wide as the right lane, but that's only the case when it's temporarily free for traffic to drive on which would ultimately result in not having a hard shoulder to use as such any more; With so many aspects, the federal traffic law to form an emergency corridor as soon as you approach and end up in a traffic jam, no matter for what reason the traffic jam is there, it's a universal way to handle the situation no matter how the section of highway is layed out like. The same law with the emergency corridor is also active for all multi-lane roads outside the city limits, and those countryside roads barely ever have a hard shoulder

[@davidck1]

@@SaveLiveTV interesting explanations. The use of the emergency lane does however work in most of the world...

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

@@davidck1 well, each country has slightly different traffic laws; There are some laws which are active in only one or few countries and no-where else around the globe. Same with some aspects of general road infrastructure: thus, unlike in the US, you won't find hard shoulders towards the median strip and no HOV lanes on German interstates. Also you won't see service & emergency access paths connecting both directions via the median strip in Germany. With the different layouts of interstate highways across Germany, with the normal width of hard shoulders barely allowing a full-size fire truck to fit through, and then having even sections with narrower or no hard shoulders at all, a universal law to handle this situation obviously makes sense. And when you think about it: with a hard shoulder having the same domensions like an average fire truck (without mirrors) ... how should a oversize emergency vehicle get through there? They wouldn't have a chance. Although rare, even airport crash tenders, fire and rescue tanks etc might have to get through

[@agentmufinka8166]

XD

[@mwamaarkhh1]

that's a lot of emergency vehicles mate

[@northeastspotting]

Hi cobra

[@souris_62]

nice

[@charlitoestobo8805]

Meanwhile in the Philippines

[@scottymorrice5416]

Shame a lot more other countries don't adopt this procedure! Well done Germany!

[@strukitru]

Belgium did in 2020

[@keithjeremiahl]

Hence why Germany is better at emergencies than anywhere else, danke Deutschland ❤

[@ambulancerules]

cobra go to switzerland note i’m unn

[@emergencias_yuc]

First world 🥹

[@andrewstorm8240]

Don’t they have hard shoulder

[@FahadFSA]

it is not wide enough for firetrucks

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

Most interstate highways in Germany DO have a hard shoulder, but that's the breakdown lane, not the emergency vehicle driving lane. There are several aspects regarding why things are the way they are: first: the standard width of the breakdown lane is just as wide as a commercial truck chassis without (!) side mirrors; While smaller emergency vehicles would fit through, most fire trucks are based on a commercial truck chassis; With only one semi truck driving a bit too far to the right, they have no chance to pass them there. Then there are hard shoulders which are narrower than the standard width, and there are also sections which don't have a hard shoulder at all. Especially old sections, mountainious sections, tunnels, urban environment with one exit following directly after a previous on-ramp etc, There are also hard shoulders which are exactly as wide as the right lane, but that's only the case when it's temporarily free for traffic to drive on which would ultimately result in not having a hard shoulder to use as such any more; With so many aspects, the federal traffic law to form an emergency corridor as soon as you approach and end up in a traffic jam, no matter for what reason the traffic jam is there, it's a universal way to handle the situation no matter how the section of highway is layed out like. The same law with the emergency corridor is also active for all multi-lane roads outside the city limits, and those countryside roads barely ever have a hard shoulder

[@rebeccafionacornel6558]

@@EnjoyFirefighting This is really very interesting..... i actually think that i personally have learnt something new today..... thank you for this information..... i really think that i need to learn about the different road rules in different countries, because these rules really sound very interesting....

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

what I forgot to mention: apart from the average size fire truck: how are oversized emergency vehicles supposed to get through? They wouldn't have any chance on the hard shoulder

[@andrewstorm8240]

@@EnjoyFirefighting in UK they can

[@CommissionerLawWonder86]

Sure wish we had that kind of courtesy law here in the states. Given the fact that the German Autobahn is notorious for having no speed limits at all, it's no wonder why accidents are more common there than where I live.

[@markwright3161]

What are those statistics you're reading from? From a short time searching I have only found a list of deaths per 100'000 people, but on that Germany ranks far lower than the US. Germany; 2.98, US; 11.10 and the UK (as I'm there); 2.81. Despite the lack of speed limits, and faster driving on average across other road types, we (Germany and the UK) have a fraction of the road deaths per 100'000 people compared to the US, so I can only assume that means fewer collisions and other road traffic incidents too. It's all down to education of drivers. UK and German tests are, from what I can find, far, far stricter/more thorough than most, if not all US tests (as I understand they vary state to state, with some being absolutely ridiculous). Personally I don't believe even the UK test to be thorough enough. The German test covers a bit more like mandatory skid control training, night driving and I believe winter driving (although that could be simulated on a skidpan, I'm not sure), but they also focus on a minimum number of hours with a qualified instructor, which I don't agree with, and I imagine the rest of the training is similar to the UK, as in, a bit too vague in places when it comes to actual techniques to safely drive a car vs what's needed to simple be legal. I would make 'Roadcraft' the legal minimum if I had the power to do so, a 'police driver's handbook' that is currently the basis for only 'advanced' civilian (besides emergency response) driving. There are courses you can do through the IAM or RoSPA here for official recognition as a more competent driver, but with videos on KZbin from each and by 'Reg Local' (channel name) you don't have to be here to see what it's all about, which I'd recommend you look into. There's such a gap from what I've learned from 'advanced' driving to the basic test that I believe *all* severities of road incidents could be reduced by at least 75% in the UK to give a very safe figure if all drivers were at least educated to that level, 95-99.9% of *all* incidents would be eliminated if everyone drove to that level, and they'd still be reduced by that degree if *all* speed limits, amongst some other laws, were eliminated too. The speed limit is completely irrelevant is you're driving properly to begin with. If you look into/know about the aforementioned 'advanced' driving techniques properly, you'll see/know what I mean, even if you don't agree with ignoring the limits when safe to do so. If you're in the US, you should know about the Cannonball Run. Not the glorified country-wide race it's been depicted as in the films, but the the real thing done in protest of the 55 mph speed limit in the 70's, introduced to 'reduce road fatalities', and maybe something fuel shortage related too, but I think that's separate. Anyway, the only incident to occur in the 3 original protest 'time trials', the 4th re-run done for the director of the movie, and in the filming of the first movie based (very loosely) off that 4th 'race', happened during filming. And not only that, it happened during the filming of a scene completely scripted by the writers, not recreating an actual event at all. Despite dozens of participants covering thousands of miles 4 separate years at speeds exceeding even multiples of the posted limits, not one incident. A Roadcraft level education (and subsequent test pass level of application) for all participants would make repeating the Cannonball Run regularly without incident extremely easy.

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

The crash rate on the German Autobahn isn't as high as you might expect. Upon that, most accidents are without ANY injuries at all, and most accidents which lead to injuries aren't any fatal ones. The rate of fatal accidents on rural roads which have a speed limit is far higher than on the highway!

[@user-oq2nz1eu7i]

we definetly rock!!!