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I spend the most dangerous time of my day on my bike. When I drive home from the Tagesspiegel editorial office on Askanischer Platz via Schöneberg, I am always happy when I arrive in Zehlendorf without an accident and without injury. Sometimes it is the drivers who spontaneously brake, do not maintain the minimum distance or simply want to open their door when I am at the same height as them.
But the biggest problem is other cyclists. Many believe that just riding a bike will make them better beings, but that is not true. There is war in the streets.
My fellow riders push, cut, pinch, or slow me down when I want to thread. In front of the red light they gather like Formula 1 drivers to start fast and leave the field behind. There are hits and scolding.
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Bicycle lanes are often used in the opposite direction. Who avoids it is not a question of traffic rules, but of cheek. How good that my children have grown up. How can you teach the little ones the traffic rules when the big ones don’t obey them?
Passersby are ringed
Sidewalks have long been subject to the cycling craze, too. Eerie passersby are surrounded. Woe to you if you don’t listen to that.
The bad habit has long since spread to parks, for example in Gleisdreieck. You cannot speak of a peaceful coexistence between pedestrians and cyclists, at least on warm sunny afternoons. Passersby, cautious cyclists, including parents with children, are passed at the speed of a monkey. This gives rise to bad fears if more bike lanes are to pass through green spaces.
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Everybody rides a bike now
I got rid of my car 30 years ago and have been cycling ever since, Berlin has always been pretty good. It has been different since Corona. Everyone is on the bike now. On car-free sections like Friedrichstrasse there is plenty of room for such a rush, and the pop-up bike lanes have helped too, but sadly the fun will soon be over.
However, these models cannot be a mass market solution anyway. Because then the city would have to be completely reserved for cyclists. Instead of unleashing anarchy, rules must be enforced, they exist. Now that winter is approaching and there are fewer people on bikes, you should take advantage of the time to prepare for the next wave.
Perhaps more police checks will help, if needed, you might even have to introduce a compulsory driver’s license for the bike, including traffic studies and tests. Many riders may not know the rules. But many just don’t care. I’m afraid you can’t expect an intuition. The anarchy continues.
