First ‘Kidical Mass’ demo Families in Bonn protest for better cycle paths
Bonn · Around 350 demonstrators took to their saddles for the first ‘Kidical Mass’ demonstration in Bonn. Their demand: safe cycle paths for children. The initiative "Radentscheid Bonn" believes that a holistic traffic concept is needed.
By now, the people of Bonn should be used to the fact that traffic is slower than usual on the last Friday of every month: this is when the ‘Critical Mass’ cyclists determine the streetscape to protest for a better bicycle infrastructure. Now on Sunday afternoon, a convoy of cyclists, mainly families with children, took to the streets. At this family-friendly time, the ‘Kidical Mass’ took place for the first time, an official bicycle demonstration for families based on the concept of the Critical Mass. The participants demanded more safety for children cyclists and better cycle paths.
"The problem is obvious: As a cyclist, as soon as you ride along a busy main road, you no longer have a protected area", says Tobias Mandt from the initiative "Radentscheid Bonn", who organised the Kidical Mass. "Traffic flows on the left, cars park on the right." Because of the dangerous situation, many parents do not let their children ride their bikes alone or they prefer to use their cars. "We want to make sure that parents can let their children ride their bikes without worrying", says Mandt. Father of three Peter Laffin from Plittersdorf, who came to the demonstration with his five-year-old son and his young daughter, also knows about the difficulties of cycling. The family does not have a car, so they are dependent on cycling. The journey to kindergarten is a particular problem. "My son cycles on footpaths which are often blocked with cars," Laffin complains. In addition, the child usually has to dismount his bike at street corners because curbs are not lowered. On the road, the safety lanes are too narrow for cyclists, and overtaking is not possible.
Similar things can be heard from many of the participants: Eight-year-old Stella often finds that she does not have enough space on her bike. "Sometimes I have to ride on the footpath for a bit." Her mother, Nadja Carazo, adds that cars often drive much too fast on the bike lane where they live. One family from Troisdorf noticed the difference to their own hometown on the way there. "I really worked up a sweat here in Bonn," says the mother, "because you have to be so careful, but how can these problems be solved? According to Tobias Mandt, the city needs to create a holistic traffic concept. "It's not primarily about just taking away space from cars, but about offering alternatives." If more people decided to use a bike, there would be more room for the rest of the cars. As a positive example, Mandt cites the widely demarcated bicycle lane at the Sandkaule. "Something like that should be possible in other places as well." He counted around 350 demonstrators on Sunday. The Kidical Mass will now also be held monthly, he said.
(Original text: Matthias Lorenz, Translation: Caroline Kusch)
