His cycle path even made it into the news - and Klaus Wörle has since been celebrated as a kind of freedom fighter for cyclists. The Regensburg ADFC chairman has shown great perseverance in his fight against the obligation to use a cycle path between his front door and the kindergarten: After a negative decision by the city of Regensburg, he fought his way through three instances for eight years and was finally granted the right to cycle on the carriageway there.
The hoped-for revolution for cycling did not materialise. This is because it actually took place a long time ago - in 1997, when the current German Road Traffic Regulations (StVO) came into force; however, in many places it was ignored when it came to cycle paths. The validity of the StVO was therefore merely reconfirmed with the Leipzig judgement, but: The court shared Wörle's view that a lane prohibition for cyclists constitutes a restriction of flowing traffic, as this also includes bicycle traffic; and that Section 45, Paragraph 9 of the StVO also applies to the cycle path signs, according to which a sign and thus the lane prohibition may only be ordered "where this is absolutely necessary due to the special circumstances", i.e. where there is an exceptional risk to safety. However, these special circumstances are lacking in many cases in which municipalities have erected cycle lane signs.
The judgement has now got things moving. The supra-regional appeal of the high court has resulted in the media and associations commenting extensively on the judgement and the transport authorities can no longer avoid the problem. The issue is suddenly being taken seriously by many local authorities - and in some places they are being woken from their slumber between hardened fronts.
All information on this topic - including information on cycle routes in other European countries - can be found in the free PDF download.
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