Traffic Law and Road Traffic Regulations (Strassenverkehrsrecht)
What the exam tests
This domain checks whether you can apply the Swiss hierarchy of road-traffic norms to a scene within seconds and explain the outcome in plain language. Examiners rarely ask for definitions; they pose a junction, a sign combination or a learner error and expect the correct rule, the source and the consequence for instruction.
Norm hierarchy and sources
- SVG (Strassenverkehrsgesetz, RS 741.01) sets the framework and the criminal provisions.
- VRV (Verkehrsregelnverordnung, RS 741.11) governs behaviour; SSV (Signalisationsverordnung, RS 741.21) governs signs and signals.
- VZV (RS 741.51) regulates licensing; VTS (RS 741.41) regulates vehicle technology.
- At the roadside the order is: police signals, then light signals, then signs and markings, then general rules.
Core rules you must command
- Right-hand traffic; keep as far right as practicable; overtake on the left, with exceptions for queues, a vehicle turning left and trams.
- Uncontrolled junction: right before left. A yellow diamond (Hauptstrasse) removes that rule; the roundabout sign gives priority to circulating traffic.
- General limits: 50 km/h built-up, 80 outside, 100 on Autostrasse, 120 on Autobahn; lower signs prevail.
- Blood-alcohol: 0.5 per mille; 0.1 per mille during the three-year probation and for professional driving. Refusing a breath or blood test is an offence.
- Pedestrian crossing: stop for a pedestrian waiting with the intention to cross; overtaking there is prohibited.
- Category B learner: 10-hour Nothilfekurs and 12 hours of practical instruction before the test.
Worked example
A car leaves a side road. The crossing road carries a yellow diamond; the side road has no sign. The diamond belongs to the main road, so right-before-left is displaced and the side-road driver must yield. If both roads were unsigned, the driver with a vehicle approaching from the right would have priority. If a police officer is directing traffic, the officer's signal overrides both the diamond and the lights. The reasoning is always the same: identify the highest-ranking signal present, then the rule it displaces.
Traps that cost marks
- Mixing the 0.5 and 0.1 per mille limits, or forgetting that probation lasts three years.
- Quoting Autobahn 120 for an Autostrasse (100).
- Treating right-before-left as universal and missing the Hauptstrasse diamond.
- Believing priority removes the duty to avoid a collision; Art. 26 SVG still requires constant care.