Motorcyclists take advantage of the fine weather to take the Kesselberg route between Kochel and Walchensee again.
The police have reached their limits.
Kochel am See
- The motorcycle season on the Kesselberg gets going late, but all the more.
As reported, the Kochler police pointed out a few days ago that the “local and regional speeding and racing scene” was increasingly to be found on the serpentine route.
This trend should continue with the sunny weather forecasts this week.
However, the deputy head of the Kochel police station explains whether the police will respond to this with increased controls.
An announcement on the traffic radio warned of overload in the Walchensee area
"Motorcyclists have some catching up to do," says Frank Bentz.
"When the weather is right, the concentration of the vehicles is higher." Depending on the day of the week, the small police station in Kochel then reaches its limits in a different way.
There are days like last Sunday when the general excursion traffic pushes close together over the Kesselberg.
Since the flow of traffic did not stop, Bentz even made an announcement on the traffic radio around noon: The Walchensee area was overloaded and it would be best not to drive into it.
Driving ban on the Kesselberg is difficult to control for the police
On days like this, the two of him and his colleague are practically all day busy recording illegal parking in the area between Urfeld and Walchensee. Bentz reports some angry reactions. "Then it says: 'Better take care of the bad motorcyclists.' We can't please anyone. "
There is also enough to do with regard to motorcycle controls.
On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, motorcyclists are not allowed to drive uphill on the Kesselberg - i.e. from Kochel to Urfeld.
And that is often disregarded.
“When we drive back to Kochel from Walchensee, the motorcycles come towards us,” says Bentz.
“But where, please, should we turn on this route?
The road traffic regulations also apply to us. ”If you wanted to control the driving ban,“ you would have to set up a sentry in Altjoch all day, ”says Bentz.
But that cannot be done in terms of personnel.
Motorcyclists avoid the Kesselberg at the weekend - they have other favorite days
In addition, Bentz does not believe that the 20 euro fine, which is due for disregarding the driving ban, has a deterrent effect.
“Motorcyclists see that as a kind of toll.” Bentz would therefore welcome higher fines.
Apart from that: Those who ride their motorcycles over the Kesselberg on Sundays tend to be more "cruisers" who like it leisurely and, due to the design of their machines, "prefer to drive straight ahead", as Bentz says of Harleys, for example .
The risk driver who wants to try out how far he can lean into the curve with his racing machine in the tight bends on the Kesselberg avoids sunny weekends.
You can't really accelerate in the dense excursion traffic.
According to Bentz, this critical clientele can be found especially on weekdays, and especially on Thursday and Friday.
In order to pursue the speeders on the Kesselberg, the police need powerful machines with cameras
And why is it not checked more efficiently if you know beforehand?
The Kochler police officers spend a lot of time at the Kesselberg.
“But our service area is much larger,” says Bentz.
"The citizens of Schlehdorf, Benediktbeuern, Bichl and Kochel also have the right to have their advertisements recorded."
In addition, the Kochler police do not have high-horsepower motorcycles, preferably with a video camera, with which they can track speeders and prove violations.
"With our VW bus, I don't start following behind."
The officers of the supra-local motorcycle control group, for example, are appropriately equipped.
“I can always request an external team,” says Bentz.
The colleagues from the Holzkirchen autobahn police or the Weilheim traffic police are also in demand on good weather days at many other hot spots such as Sudelfeld.
“The Upper Bavaria South area is large.
And right now the International Motor Show in Munich is absorbing forces like a dry sponge. "
In the evenings, the Bad Tölz and Mittenwald police stations are responsible for the Kesselberg
Bentz says that it is not true that there are no longer any checks at all on the Kesselberg in the evening.
But if the employees of the Kochel police station “call it a day after ten or eleven hours, then that's the way it is”.
From then on, the Bad Tölz and Mittenwald police stations are responsible for the Kesselberg.
And they would come “depending on capacity”.
The motorcycle control group is also used in the evenings - but, as I said, not only on the Kesselberg.
After all: the darkness, which is falling earlier, also shortens the motorcycle evenings on the Kesselberg.
"Motorcyclists need a dry road surface and daylight," says Bentz.
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