Driving instructor Dirk Dlugosch experiences life-threatening moments on the streets of Freising every day.
His accusation: Many small system errors lead to traffic anarchy.
Freising
– Drivers who take shortcuts via cycle paths in traffic jams or who make their way against the direction of travel on a one-way street.
Cyclists tumbling over opening car doors – or even bumping into a pedestrian.
And again and again situations where road users just barely scrape each other without getting hurt.
These are scenes that driving instructor Dirk Dlugosch experiences in abundance.
"This is what my everyday work looks like," he emphasizes.
"Welcome to my world!"
As a driving instructor, Dlugosch witnesses countless precarious situations for life and limb every day.
He wishes that would change.
That's why he invited the FT to take a little tour to draw attention to the traffic problems that he believes have become increasingly prevalent in recent years.
Many "system errors" increase the risk of accidents
And indeed: in the 35 minutes of the journey together, several scenes take place in which traffic rules are grossly disregarded.
Seniors walking down the street with their walkers because the sidewalk is too narrow or bumpy.
Cyclists crossing a four-lane road diagonally at an intersection without regard for casualties.
And a car that shoots through a red light without braking.
Dlugosch is not concerned with major hotspots or construction site areas, which per se harbor an increased risk of accidents, but with the many small grievances that lead to numerous conflicts in traffic and to a permanent risk.
Dlugosch calls them “system errors”.
A large part of the traffic misery has to do with the countless cars lined up bumper to bumper at the side of the road.
Whether Lankesberg or Goldberg, whether the area between Prinz-Ludwig- and Wippenhauser Strasse or Lerchenfelder side streets - the same picture everywhere in the city area.
"Ten or 15 years ago it wasn't the case that there were so many cars parked on the street," says Dlugosch.
Cyclists use sidewalks and endanger pedestrians
In the meantime, however, most lanes have become so narrow due to parking traffic that not even a bicycle and a car can pass each other with an appropriate safety distance, let alone two cars. They are de facto becoming one-way streets.
Or to put it another way: “The cars always have to look for gaps to avoid oncoming traffic,” explains Dlugosch.
“If you also consider that the view of all road users is massively restricted due to the many parked cars, there are so many dangerous situations that can lead to accidents.
I see cyclists and motorists colliding with each other with unsightly regularity.”
The result: Because cyclists no longer feel safe on the streets, they increasingly switch to sidewalks.
"They're the stronger there, they don't have any natural enemies there," explains Dlugosch.
This is even the case on Kammergasse, although there is now a clearly marked cycle path at the edge of the road.
“But most people don't use this green stripe for fear of being overlooked by drivers.
And so the sidewalk is turned into a bicycle street.” And that is at the expense of the pedestrians, who are not only the weakest link in the chain, but also the last to experience protection.
Some of the proposed solutions are radical
Dlugosch not only criticizes, he also proposes solutions.
A lot, some of them radical.
One demand reads: “The stationary traffic must be cleared.
I can't remember that the streets were intended as public parking spaces." One-way streets are a good solution, but then it shouldn't be the way it is usually in Freising, where parking can be parked on both sides.
"Because that means we have the same dilemma again." Another thorn in the side are the Dlugosch paths, which are marked for cyclists and pedestrians without there being a marked demarcation.
When nobody is afraid of being punished anymore, then anarchy spreads.
Driving instructor Dirk Dlugosch
In his opinion, the road building regulations also urgently need to be revised.
"It's from the 1950s," he says.
The orders of magnitude that would apply to the construction of roads and paths would no longer have anything to do with the real space requirements of today's road users.
Dlugosch cites parking lots and multi-storey car parks as an example: "Hardly anyone gets out of their car there anymore - not because the vehicles are parked sloppily, but because the parking spaces are simply too small."
Nobody is afraid of being punished anymore
For Dlugosch, further alternatives for improving the traffic situation are 30 zones on narrow streets and in residential areas, the construction of new cycle paths and the introduction of license plates on bicycles.
"Because if the cyclists are no longer anonymous, they will also adhere to traffic rules more."
Parking bans on the roadsides in favor of the flow of traffic do not make the vehicle population disappear, but on the one hand ensure displacement.
City hall spokeswoman Christl Steinhart
Of course, the city and police would then have to increase traffic control again.
“As good as nothing happens anymore,” says the driving instructor.
"It's at the expense of the weaker." Red traffic lights would no longer exist, not only for countless cyclists, but also for many motorists.
“They just drive, no matter what color is displayed.
If no one is afraid of being punished, then anarchy will spread.”
The city is working to resolve the issue
Confronted with these SOS signals by the Freisinger Tagblatt, City Hall spokeswoman Christl Steinhart speaks of “conclusive solutions” that the driving instructor took up.
She points out that the city has already started a new parking space management concept, as reported in the daily newspaper.
A number of problems addressed by Dlugosch should then be eliminated with a package of measures.
It's not about playing the sheriff for me, but I experience umpteen situations every day that are life-threatening.
It's about fairness and safety in traffic.
Driving instructor Dirk Dlugosch
However, Steinhart emphasizes: “The number of cars in households has increased, general “parking bans on the roadsides in favor of the flow of traffic will not make the number of vehicles disappear, but on the one hand ensure displacement and on the other hand an increase in through speeds in what are still narrow spaces Streets.” The city wants to reduce parking pressure here with resident parking zones.
Thanks to the municipal security service, controls in the city area are to be intensified.
(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
Dlugosch welcomes the city's new efforts.
"Positive changes can only be made together with the representatives of the system - and with traffic monitoring that includes everyone." One thing is important to him: "It's not about playing the sheriff, but I experience umpteen situations every day that are life-threatening.
I'm concerned with fairness and safety on the road."
