Speed limit for cyclists
For some, pedestrian zones are an effective means of combating too much car traffic in the neighbourhood. Others see them as the best way to make the surrounding, mostly smaller streets impassable, as cars congest here as a result. A bicycle can offer a faster way to get around, but even they cannot simply ride as they please.
So-called encounter zones are pedestrian zones in which other road users, such as cars, are also allowed to cavort if they adjust their speed. What applied to cars now also applies to cyclists. The Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg (case number: OVG 1 S 53/22) has ruled that the 10 km/h speed limit for bicycles is legal. The speed limit has been in force for some time on Bergmannstraße in Kreuzberg, but only a few cyclists have complied with it. One of them, who felt unjustly thwarted by the speed limit sign on his way to work, filed a complaint: he did not see any danger that would justify the restriction. The court took a different view: the fact that motorists, pedestrians and cyclists share the road, cycle path and pavement creates a special risk situation. This results from the fact alone that the cycle path is a two-directional path and pedestrians must therefore pay particular attention when crossing. This therefore definitely increases the potential danger and justifies a speed limit for both car drivers and cyclists.
The ruling is no longer relevant for Berlin's Friedrichstraße, from which cars have been banned and where a speed limit of 20 km/h for cyclists applies. The Administrative Court of Berlin lifted the ban for car traffic a week ago. This means that the special danger situation between pedestrians and cyclists no longer exists and cyclists can go as fast as before - unless Friedrichstraße is turned into an encounter zone after all.
With the speed limit for bicycles, as with diesel driving bans, the question arises as to how these will be controlled without labelling. For some time now, there has been a demand for a blue sticker for vehicles and for bicycles to have their own number plates so that violations can be better punished.
What is the point of bans without controls? Until both are introduced, and if they are introduced at all, we can only trust in the common sense of the citizens.