Method and apparatus for detecting an exceptional traffic situation

The method involves detecting a region of environment of a vehicle (1) i.e. passenger car, by a detecting unit, and detecting optical signals from the environment by the detection unit using a camera. A determination is made to check whether a rescue lane (R) is formed in a detection area of located vehicles (A11-A13, A21-A24) based on the detected signals. The detected signals are detected for presence of blinking sequences based on color of emergency vehicles (E). Wirelessly received data is evaluated to obtain traffic conditions in a region of the vehicle. The detection unit is designed as a sensor, and the color is e.g. blue color, yellow color and/or red color. An independent claim is also included for a device for recognizing a specific condition in a road traffic.