Sean P Durham | Photography & Writing

Photography & Writing

  • Home
    • Contact Sean P. Durham
    • About
  • Photography
    • Portrait Photography by Sean P. Durham
  • Street Photography
  • Englisch Sprachunterricht in Berlin
    • Lernen der Englischen Sprache als Zweite Sprache und Motivation
  • Content Marketing Creation & Blogging
    • Content & Copywriting by Sean P. Durham
    • Blogging Ideas that Fire-up Your Blogging Adventure
Home » How to Make Blogging Your Entrepreneurial Start » Keep Death Off the Roads — Ride on The Pavement

Keep Death Off the Roads — Ride on The Pavement

October 31, 2020 by SeanPatrick Leave a Comment

Take a walk through the graveyard these days, and you might get hit by a cyclist. I thought graveyards were places to go and find peace. A place to slow down and think, reflect on life and death, read headstones that give hints to who lies beneath those sods of earth, or find a name the reflects a person’s past life.

Cyclist on a level crossing with people - Photo by Steven Lasry on Unsplash

I never thought I’d see the day when people lacked respect for relatives who visit the grave of their loved ones. These days they have to watch out they don’t get hit or clipped by a roving bike rider. Narrow pathways and overhanging branches don’t make for good cycling, people standing on these pathways silently pondering a gravestone need to keep their ears open.

Cyclists use the graveyard to make a quick passage through, bypassing the traffic on the nearby road, they then exit at the other end and save themselves about thirty seconds travelling time.

When walking along the city streets these days you have to keep your wits about you. Always listening out for the metallic crunch of an eighteen geared mountain bike ploughing through pedestrian traffic.

Getting Clipped

I’ve been clipped by handlebars, the shoulders of wobbly riders have bumped me, rotating knee caps that stick out from that skinny wheeled steel donkey thumped me in the butt, and as apology I received a grunt, a scowling face over the shoulder, or just the ignorant back of the head hunched in between tight shoulders, and a “fuck you!” muttered at me.

These incidents make me think about road-rage, the lack of police patrols on the street these days, and how much it would cost to buy a small portable tire-shredder just like the police use to stop getaway cars in a chase.

The Graveyard

Graveyards are full of the dead. Not all of them died peacefully, but now they are in peace. Some of them got hit by cars, trucks, fell off horses, and one or two were hit by cyclists riding along the pathway, dodging their way through tall pedestrians where small pedestrians are well hidden and no more than knee height.

Tragedy Occurs each Day on the Streets

A year ago, a young man was sitting at a terrace table outside a cafe in Berlin. While talking to a friend, drinking coffee, he realized he wanted to get up and go to the bathroom inside the cafe. He stood up and took a step outwards from the table, one foot into the street, he was hit fully in the body by a speeding cyclist. The man was seriously injured and now lives with permanent injuries. There’s a strict law that makes it a criminal offence to ride or drive a vehicle on the footpaths in Germany. But cyclists are doing it, anyway.

Berlin

This year alone in Berlin, there have been over two thousand deaths involving cyclists who have either hit a person, or been hit by a motor vehicle. So, a few of them have ended up in the graveyard, too.

San Francisco

Last June, San Francisco’s transportation Director, Jeffrey Turnlin, announced that there had been a significant uptick in cycle related deaths in the city. This doesn’t surprise me. San Francisco has been a testing ground for companies who offer convenient travel modes, rent-a-bike, a scooter, a motor scooter, or a car, and then park it, or dump it in the middle of the street.

The rift between pedestrians and people on these forms of transport has widened into a regular slanging match along the busy streets of Berlin.

New York Cyclists

New York City saw a drop in the fatality rate involving bicycle riders in 2016, then last year it rose significantly. Twenty-eight cyclists, and 124 pedestrians met their deaths on the streets of New York in 2019 involving cyclists.

The problem is this ; the city sees these bicycles and scooters as a way to monetize the streets, to create business and revenue from people who are just out and about. Go shopping on a scooter, or rent a bike instead of taking a walk in the park.

Take a walk in the park, and you get the feeling that the message to rent a vehicle has been taken in, people scoot through the park on roller-scooters with silent motors, stand back and look, you get the feeling that you’re at a race meeting.

Rent a Scooter

The scooter riders tend to move in groups. In Berlin, it’s been determined that mostly tourists used the new scooter, locals prefer the bicycles. Some of the bikes are motorized with an electric wheel, this means they can silently whizz along at a nippy speed, and when you feel the clout of a handlebar clipping your arm, it’s enough to make you squeal like a puppy.

Nobody in authority is about to help you, pedestrian laws that protect citizens on foot are now a dusty leaf that the senate for transport refuses to discuss.

Nobody is Watching & Blank Stares

Just last week in Berlin, the Senate for Transport and Traffic was questioned about which measures will be taken to protect pedestrians walking the streets. The reporter asking the questions was constantly met with a blank gaze.

Two wheeled transport is a convenient mode of transport. It’ll get you past a traffic jam as quick as a Jack Russel down a rathole. A bike is better than a car. It’s efficient, environmentally friendly, and a healthy way to travel.

The rise in numbers of cyclists on the roads not only creates problems, but reveals obvious problems that need immediate attention from the senate. There’s a lot of people riding bicycles, and they clearly don’t understand traffic laws — some ride as if they never knew it even existed, so they make it up as they ride along.

Increased use of Pathways and Sidewalks

Riding along a pathway full of drifting pedestrians is a dangerous thing to do. Motorcycle riders are beginning to do it, too. They mount the pathway, and buzz along the side of pedestrians while they look for a slot to park in.

When a motorcyclist has just been riding along the main road at 70 Kilometres an hour, mounting the path, and slowing down to only 25 kilometres an hour seems reasonable to their adrenaline filled nervous system.

Of Cars, Insurance, and Road Safety Acts

In the mid 20th century, cars began to fill up the roads. People could afford to buy the luxury of a family car. The streets filled up, accidents increased, and it became obvious that insurance and rigorous’s testing should become a priority. It did, and it helped to straighten out the dangers of driving, but took too many years for the senate and government to figure out that people shouldn’t drink alcohol and drive motor vehicles.

Many accidents involving scooters and pedestrians are reported as what they are, a vehicular accident in a public place. Often, it’s not reported as an accident that occurred due to bad judgement by a scooter rider who had just had an afternoon drinking session with friends.

Now it’s time to learn from the lesson, and keep the graveyard headstones clear of the names of cyclists and pedestrians who have met their fate on the wheel of jig-zagging bikes and scooters. People need educating on the dangers of vehicles, motor or not, and the problems of slow moving people, and fast moving two-wheelers.

Further reading on Berlin Notes

Filed Under: Berlin Notes Tagged With: afoot in Berlin, Bike riders and dangers in Berlin, Bike riding problems in Berlin, Cyclists and Pedestrians in Berlin, walking the streets in Berlin

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Self Portrait of Sean P. Durham, Berlin 2022 Copyrighted

Still Life

Still Life Photograph classical style with pot and fruit - pear and tangerine on a table cloth

Recent Posts

  • Photography, Roadworks, and Yellow Lines
  • A Tapestry of Thoughts
  • Taking Selfies by Reading Lamp
  • How to Write Fictional Characters Your Readers Will Remember
  • How To Write a Love Story that Will Make Readers Sit on the Edge of Their Seats

Categories

  • Berlin Notes
  • Blogging
  • Book Reviews
  • Cats
  • cooking at home
  • copywriting
  • Creativity
  • Drinks
  • English Language Learning
  • Entrepreneurial Spirit
  • personal development
  • Photography
  • Photoshop
  • Portrait Photography
  • psychogeography
  • Reading
  • Short Stories
  • Still Life Photography
  • Street Photography
  • Style and Hats
  • travel
  • Writing

Pages

  • Blogging Ideas that Fire-up Your Blogging Adventure
  • Contact Sean P. Durham
  • Content & Copywriting by Sean P. Durham
  • Cookie Policy
  • Disclosure Policy of Sean P Durham | Photography & Writing
  • Online Englisch Sprachunterricht in Berlin Privat
    • English Language Lessons in Berlin Private
    • Lernen der Englischen Sprache als Zweite Sprache und Motivation
  • Photography by Sean P. Durham
  • Portrait Photography by Sean P. Durham
  • Street Photography in Berlin
  • What Berlin Notes is About?

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019

Copyright © 2023 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT