Defusing at the danger point in sight

Created: 05/14/2022, 08:00

By: Laura Forster

At this point at the Edeka entrance on Leutstettener Straße, Hellmut Pittinger collided with a car on Holy Saturday.

He had to be taken to the hospital, but luckily he was only slightly injured.

© Dagmar rutt

The path for cyclists between the intersection of Gautinger Straße/Leutstettener Straße and the Gymnasium is like a patchwork quilt.

The police speak of an “extremely suboptimal” situation.

The city now wants to defuse the situation – even in the short term.

Starnberg

– Hellmut Pittinger can no longer remember much of Holy Saturday.

With his smartwatch, the 77-year-old was still in contact with his wife in the morning, then he is missing two hours.

"I later woke up with a concussion in the Starnberg Clinic," says the pensioner from Percha in an interview with Starnberger Merkur.

On April 16, around 11 a.m., Pittinger was on his way home from shopping on the Leutstettener Straße cycle path – coming from the north station.

As he passed the entrance to the Edeka supermarket, a driver who wanted to drive out of the parking lot onto the street overlooked him.

There was a collision and Pittinger fell to the ground.

"Thank God I had my bike helmet on," he says.

"Who knows what would have happened otherwise." On the same day, the 77-year-old was able to leave the hospital to which the emergency services had taken him.

Since then, however, the situation for cyclists on Leutstettener Straße has not let him go.

Because although the driver should have been more careful, Pittinger is also partly to blame.

Because he shouldn't have ridden on the cycle path at all, which is only permitted for cyclists coming from the other direction, i.e. in the direction of the north station.

"I didn't know that I would have had to drive on the other side of the road," says Pittinger and criticizes.

“There is a lack of adequate signage.

It's important to me that nothing happens here again.

This is a dangerous spot.”

Chief Inspector Oliver Jauch, traffic officer for the Starnberg police, describes the situation as "extremely suboptimal".

There was no accumulation of accidents at the location, "however, the situation for cyclists on Leutstettener Straße is currently not conclusive.

It's a patchwork quilt," says Jauch on request.

Discussions and on-site appointments with the city of Starnberg have already taken place.

“To the chagrin of the cyclists, everything is being delayed,” says Jauch.

However, something seems to be happening now.

"The city is planning to standardize the cycle traffic routing along Leutstettener Straße," says city hall spokeswoman Lena Choi.

A continuous signage of the sidewalk with clearance for bicycle traffic is planned.

This would give cyclists the option of riding either on the sidewalk or on the road in the direction of Gautinger Strasse.

"In order for this right to vote for cycling to take place, however, there was no signage as a joint footpath and cycle path." Otherwise, the cyclist would have an obligation to use the path, according to Choi.

For the implementation of the concept, however, the section between Gautinger Straße and Edeka access road must be structurally widened - according to the town hall, this should take place next summer.

When the construction work is complete, the signposting of the path can be arranged.

But things should also change in the short term.

"Due to the partially unclear regulation, the city of Starnberg wants to coordinate with the Starnberg Police Inspectorate in order to achieve short-term security until the concept is implemented," says Choi.