When cars overtake cyclists out of town, they now have to keep their distance. Freising's chief of police Ernst Neuner hopes for mutual respect and patience.
County - In the future, cars will have to keep a distance of two meters when overtaking cyclists. So it wants a new traffic rule, which came into force together with others at the end of April. Mutual consideration and patience is therefore required among road users on narrower communal connecting roads. Otherwise there are unpleasant consequences.
"More road safety"
So far, the road traffic regulations only spoke of a "sufficient side clearance" when overtaking, reports Ernst Neuner, chief of the Freising police. "That was not exactly defined" - even if specific distances were repeatedly mentioned in court rulings. "But there was no legal procedure."
It is different now. In urban areas, motorists now have to keep a distance of one and a half meters when overtaking pedestrians, cyclists and drivers of small electric vehicles, and in urban areas two meters. “This is intended to provide better protection for the weaker road users and generally more safety in road traffic,” explains Neuner. "We welcome that."
However, the law amendment presents the police with new challenges. Because the observance of the now valid rules is not easy to monitor for law enforcement officers. “Above all, it is extremely difficult to measure distances,” explains Neuner. "However, we will pay attention to this - for example, using various focus controls, which we also want to clarify straight away." Because one thing is clear: control pressure is necessary to comply with new regulations.
Revised traffic regulations could have significant consequences
But the municipalities also face challenges due to the new law, as the Freising chief of police also explains: “In order to be able to keep the minimum distance when overtaking out of town, I need a street width of five meters. And they simply don't have various communal connecting roads. ”Neuner therefore hopes for mutual respect among the road users. "A partnership-based relationship would be desirable - for example, that a cyclist stops to the right to let a car pass."
But if there are always problems on some roads - or even accidents, Neuner does not consider it impossible that roads should be closed to individual road users. It would then probably hit the drivers. But that is the task of the road construction agency: the municipalities. "They have to check and decide."
Neuner anticipates that the new minimum clearances when overtaking will result in the long-term need for more space to build wider roads. "But that's a political decision."
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