Europa-Allee in Frankfurt, a “ghost bike” commemorates the accidental death of a 34-year-old cyclist who was hit by a truck when turning right and fatally injured four years ago.
The discarded, white-painted bicycle also serves as a memorial. Because such serious accidents happen again and again, nationwide. According to an evaluation by the bicycle association ADFC, 19 cyclists died last year, and 12 this year by mid-August. Although the numbers have fallen, they are still unbearably high, the association criticizes.
Assistance systems should help
Official statistics are not kept for the accidents. According to an evaluation of police and press reports from the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC), the annual number of accidents up to 2020 was much higher, with an average of more than 30 cyclists killed.
The association attributes the decline to the mandatory walking speed for heavy motor vehicles when turning right, which has been in force since April 2020 – and to turning assistants that warn the truck driver if there is a person next to the vehicle.
An obligation to install this technology has been decided, but it will only come into force gradually. Since 2022, the assistants must be present in all new vehicle types throughout Europe. Only from July 7 next year will all newly registered trucks and buses from 3.5 tons be covered by the installation requirement.
“For an earlier point in time there was no majority at EU level,” says a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Transport. The Ministry encourages voluntary installation. So far, funds have been approved for around 43,500 assistance systems. According to the ADFC, a maximum of ten percent of trucks are currently equipped with the technology, i.e. nine out of ten trucks without it.
Desire for funding for more security
In a joint appeal three years ago, the Federal Association of Freight Transport, Logistics and Disposal (BGL) and the ADFC called on politicians and companies to push ahead with the conversion of intersections, separate traffic lights and retrofitting with the turning assistant. With insufficient results so far, as both associations criticize.
The BGL shows understanding that the complex conversion of crossings takes time. However, according to the BGL, the requirement for traffic lights to be switched on at separate times for cyclists going straight and trucks and cars turning right could be implemented promptly – and are still ignored. The association would also like additional funding for more security, as a spokesman said.
Victims of right-turn accidents are mostly cyclists, as accident expert Siegfried Brockmann says. Pedestrians always have the chance to take a step back. The cyclist, on the other hand, is traveling at a higher speed, at 20 kilometers per hour his braking distance is 10 meters. “We have a very big problem here, because the strong and the weak inevitably have to meet,” says the insurer’s head of accident research.
Better sightlines needed
Trucks almost always cause particularly serious accidents, but the main opponent of the accident is the car, says Brockmann. According to him, most accidents happen where there are no traffic lights, such as at the entrances and exits of gas stations, supermarkets and other properties.
The antidote would be better visibility, i.e. a direct view of the cycle path without parked cars and hedges. Stop signs, warning signs and stop lines would also increase safety. At intersections, Brockmann advertises separate traffic lights, but the municipalities are still not making enough use of the opportunity: “There’s still a lot of room for improvement,” says Brockmann.
Brockmann also criticizes the fact that the obligation to install turning assistants in new vehicles will only come into force in the summer of next year. In practice, entire fleets of trucks are still on the road without them. Federal funding for their voluntary installation is not enough.
Without the technology, truck drivers are dependent on their mirrors – such as the wide-angle mirror, in which a cyclist appears very small, and the driver also has to look ahead, says the accident expert. As a cyclist, he himself is very cautious at intersections with trucks: “I would always advise driving past slowly so that you can still stop if in doubt.”
