German drivers and pedestrians have begun to get really upset with the behaviour of a vast majority of the cycling population inhabiting the streets around the country. German statisticians have revealed that one in three urban accidents involved a bicycle last year, with one in four being deadly.
At least there is no sign of them getting onto the autobahns anytime soon, but the arguing between drivers, pedestrians and cyclists has reached a fever pitch.
One taxi driver was quite happy to throw out “less civilised,” in his description:
There is a real problem with the cyclists who do not respect the rules, who zigzag and ride any old way. They are becoming less and less civilised.
We know what he’s referring to when he says that.
Berlin’s population is approximately three and a half million, with 500 000 of them using a bicycle every day to commute in and around the city.
That’s a large amount of peddling to police.
Spokeswoman for the German Automobile Club for the Berlin-Brandenburg region, Claudia Nolte:
Infrastructure for traffic is no longer suitable. The growing number of cyclists requires a new concept for urban organisation.
That works if it’s done properly, not like on Adderley Street in Cape Town where an inner city prawn lane is now hurting business.
Part of the problem is that many of the cyclists are starting to do their own thing on the road. Take this example of prawn rage from the German publication, Der Spiegel:
A 43-year-old tried to stop another cyclist who was coming from the opposite direction and was on the wrong side of the road. That was a mistake. Instead of stopping, the second cyclist struck the 43-year-old man’s arm with his fist and kept on going, leaving his victim with a bone fracture.
Apparently this is becoming fairly normal on German streets, with pedestrians, cyclists and drivers frequently pushing and cursing one another.
86 million euros have already been expended on cycling infrastructure in Germany in 2011, but clearly a solution for harmonious road interaction for all is still a long way off.
[Sources: DerSpiegel, Fin24]
[Thanks, Jared R]
