Viewing 30 posts - 1 through 30 (of 30 total)
  • Please support German trail access petition. Takes less than 2 Minutes. Thx!
  • hock
    Full Member

    Hi there,

    as everywhere in the world bikers in the south-western part of Germany (i.e. county of Baden-Württemberg/Stuttgart/Black Forest…) do face trail access issues, too.

    But this one is on the ridiculous side of things:
    – the so called “2-metre-rule” forbids cyclists to cycle on trails less than 2-metres wide… Really! 😯
    – in a very un-german way it is neither defined from where to where one is supposed to measure those 2-metres (tree to tree, bush to bush, sward to sward…) nor what to do if trails vary in width (carry, push, reverse…) 😕
    – so while everybody incl. rangers agree that the rule is ridiculous and mostly ignore it, politicians like Mr. Bonde (pictured below) think of it as adequate and well-proven… 🙄
    – the actual nuisance though is that clubs can’t really do youth training on trails as they would face substantial insurance issues if something happens on a narrow trail. Thus the youngest suffer the most! 👿

    So please support the petition to abolish this nonsense. Every signature counts no matter from which country.

    Here’s how:
    – click on OpenPetition: Deletion of the “2 meter rule in the county of Baden-Württemberg
    – choose ‘Great Britain’ or wherever you live
    – enter you name and address
    – if you tick “Sign Anonymous” your name won’t be visible in public (we don’t mind if you stand with your name for trail access, though)
    – if you un-tick “Get information about this and similar petitions” you don’t even have to enter your e-mail address
    – hit the big yellow SIGNING-Button and you’re done
    – MANY THANKS from Baden-Württemberg! 😉

    Why should you:
    – trail access matters to every biker everywhere in the world
    – liberal rules in some countries can serve as a positive example in any other country
    – someday you might want to enjoy the singletrack paradise in the Black Forest
    – you scratch our back and we’ll scratch yours! 😀

    Interesting fact:
    now you know why Germans are infamous for going up and down the hills on fireroads only – it’s the law!

    Mr. Bonde, the politician who thinks banning cyclists from narrow trails is an excellent idea:

    Mugboo
    Full Member

    Signed, can you sort our access out next please 🙂

    kimbers
    Full Member

    alles gut

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

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    rickmeister
    Full Member

    We live in Schwarzwald and the 2m law is nuts… in some places its 3m….

    Imagine that, all the singletrack you can ride legally is 2m or more wide… thats a single carriageway!

    Signed here…

    andytherocketeer
    Full Member

    in a very un-german way it is neither defined from where to where one is supposed to measure those 2-metres (tree to tree, bush to bush, sward to sward…)

    The one for Hessen was going to be defined as “a track that may be passed by a (proper) 4×4 vehicle”.
    My understanding is that they eventually chose a kind of right to roam rule, where any track or path is fair game so long as it was installed by the land owner or the warden, subject to ALL users (bikes, walkers, pushchairs, wheelchairs,…) using commonsense to determine priority, right of way, etc.

    The Hessen/Baden-Württemberg boundary goes right thru the Odenwald park, so even in one top Walking/Hiking/Biking area the law changes.

    Fortunately I live at the end furthest away from the BW bit 🙂

    roger_mellie
    Full Member

    Done.

    hock
    Full Member

    Mugboo: Signed, can you sort our access out next please

    Would love to! 🙂

    There’s one difference though:
    – our stupid rule is ‘just’ 18 years old
    – your stupid rule is from the mid-fifties if I’m not mistaken

    Even in our case the main problem is protection of vested rights and a general resistance to change on behalf of some of the rambling associations and landowners.

    But there’s hope! We’ve put social media to good use to engage with bikers and convince them to take an active role. It’s a little tricky as bikers tend to be less organised and more individualistic, so less keen to engage in a group. But you need some lobbying in order to succeed.

    On the other hand local activities seem to be just as important. E.g. to talk to local authorities and the local representatives of rambling associations. Offer help with trail maintenance. Put a face to the anonymous biker. We’ll see if it works over here.

    Anyway, thanks for signing!

    robhughes
    Free Member

    No.You bombed our chippys….

    mrelectric
    Full Member

    Done.

    hock
    Full Member

    Revised “Here’s how”-part as the translation on openpetition.de doesn’t seem to work:
    – click on this link: http://bit.ly/19RiytZ
    – choose your country in the drop-down that says ‘Deutschland’ on the left ( e.g. ‘Großbritanninen’ for GB and ‘Irland’ for Ireland)
    – enter your full name under ‘Vollständiger Name’, your Postcode and town under ‘Postleitzahl Ort’ and your street and house number/name under ‘Straße Hausnr.’
    – if you tick ‘Anonym unterschreiben’ your name won’t be visible in public (we don’t mind if you stand with your name for trail access, though)
    – if you un-tick ‘Informationen zu dieser und ähnlichen Petitionen bekommen’ you don’t even have to enter your e-mail address
    – hit the big yellow UNTERSCHREIBEN-Button on the right and you’re done

    Many thanks!

    hock
    Full Member

    Approaching 53.000!

    sandwicheater
    Full Member

    I refuse to sign until someone explains what that woman has on her head?

    hock
    Full Member

    It’s called ‘Bollenhut’, is part of the ‘Tracht’, i.e. traditional dress in some regions of the Schwarzwald/Black Forest and shows that she’s still available. Married women would wear black ‘bollen’ on their hat.
    Those ‘Bollen’ are basically pompoms.
    -> for mor information see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Forest

    ‘Nough? 🙂

    trout
    Free Member

    Signed
    I have friends in that area who have shown me around some cracking singletrack though they never mentioned the cheekyness of them .

    hock
    Full Member

    Many thanks to all who have signed!
    The share of British signatures has risen substantially. 😀

    MSP
    Full Member

    I refuse to sign until someone explains what that woman has on her head?

    I am not so sure that’s a woman.

    asterix
    Free Member

    i signed all the same

    buzz-lightyear
    Free Member

    “shows that she’s still available.”

    What happened to [list]not wearing a ring[/list] on the ring finger?

    sandwicheater
    Full Member

    Well thank you, will sign now.

    cranberry
    Free Member

    Done.

    Viele glück.

    WaywardRider
    Free Member

    I was working in Suttgart for 18 months a couple of years ago. Had a great time. Got to like a place where people drink beer in the staff restaurant at lunch time. Even the gym I went to had a bar for post workout beer! Sadly didnt manage any MTB’ing. Didn’t manage Zuggspitze either which I realy regret.

    Anyway enough of reminising… Signed the petition.

    kharim
    Free Member

    done

    hock
    Full Member

    We’ve had a lot of international support during the last days. Amongst others Endura and Singular Cycles shared the topic on Facebook and Cotic spreaded the word via Twitter.

    Many thanks to all who’ve signed!

    Here’s a little summary of what it’s all about and how you can support us during
    >> THE LAST 3 DAYS!!! <<
    of our petition for trail access in south-western Germany: https://www.facebook.com/DIMB.OpenTrails/posts/461231367331845

    Please ‘share’ and ‘like’ to push the visibility of our campaign.

    Cheers!

    euanc
    Free Member

    Done, good luck!

    markfu
    Free Member

    Signed.

    This is not a million miles from me, as i live at the N end of the Pfalzerwald (Ramstein). If they did this to the trails near me, it would totally kill off all of the decent riding around here.

    There is quite a large US mtb community in the area, if you can find their forum it would be worth posting up on there also, (I used to post on there, but can’t seem to find it the moment, sorry). The Germany section on MTBR might be a good place to post aswell.

    hock
    Full Member

    “Can you believe that singletrails are illegal in the Black Forest in Germany? Please sign this petition so Hänsel & Gretel can shred some real MTB trails. Who wants to ride on fire-roads anyway?”
    https://www.facebook.com/hans.rey.92?fref=ts

    😀

    hock
    Full Member

    Approaching 57.000 and one day to go!

    Revised “Here’s how”-part as the translation on openpetition.de doesn’t seem to work:
    – click on this link: http://bit.ly/19RiytZ
    – choose your country in the drop-down that says ‘Deutschland’ on the left ( e.g. ‘Großbritanninen’ for GB and ‘Irland’ for Ireland)
    – enter your full name under ‘Vollständiger Name’, your Postcode and town under ‘Postleitzahl Ort’ and your street and house number/name under ‘Straße Hausnr.’
    – if you tick ‘Anonym unterschreiben’ your name won’t be visible in public (we don’t mind if you stand with your name for trail access, though)
    – if you un-tick ‘Informationen zu dieser und ähnlichen Petitionen bekommen’ you don’t even have to enter your e-mail address
    – hit the big yellow UNTERSCHREIBEN-Button on the right and you’re done

    kharim
    Free Member

    Heute letzter Tag

    hock
    Full Member

    58.210 signatures – many thanks to all who’ve signed and shared! 🙂

    Stoner
    Free Member

    Id forgotten Id signed this petition. I have ridden in the black forest and the 2m rule is even more asinine than some of the crap we have to put up with here in England.

    Anyway, I was just checking my spam folder as I’m running low on Viagra before clearing it out and noticed a recent reply from the Petition organiser. It looks like the petition has failed.

    Please excuse Google Translate. It’s much better than Stoner Translate though.

    You have to openPetition the petition “deletion of the” 2 meter rule “incl. Corr. Penalty provision in the Forest Act Baden-Württemberg” signed.

    . The author of the petition DIMB eV (Tilman Kluge) – Ref environment) has sent you a new message to this petition:

    Subject: The petition was not met or not met mainly

    Reference: Petition 15/3436; concerning .: cycling on forest trails; Deletion of the “2 meter rule” and the correspond

    The recommended decision of the 2-meter-petition under the microscope

    In his recommended decision on the petition against the 2-meter rule, the Petitions Committee explains fe on the following aspects.

    In the legal assessment, the prohibition is justified by a balancing of interests:
    “Because of the potential hazard the control of traveling is required. The scheme was weighed with regard to the restriction of the right to free development of personality, in the form of leisure activity over the right to life and personal integrity and judged appropriate. Consists Therein the of the drawn petitioners in doubt important reason i. S.des § 14 para. 2 Federal Forest Act. ”

    Here, then cycling is assumed a general hazard in the forest on narrow paths, which should justify a blanket ban. Unfortunately, this alleged hazard is similar with any studies, statistics supported, but only as an assertion made in the room.

    In the course of the petition, we have invalidated the prejudices with facts and studies and also the “Tale of the fatal accidents” we have already refuted a year ago *. Nevertheless, first minister has Bonde, then Landtag Karl Rombach and last Prime Minister Kretschmann this used to to make against the cyclists mood.

    The explanatory memorandum also raised the fact that Baden-Württemberg’s two-meter rule was not unique. For one, the Administrative Regulation (VwV) to Highway Code is troubled. It is however recognized that the traffic law rule width only for use requiring bike paths applies (blue sign). The typical forest roads not subject to this administrative regulation.

    Secondly, reference is made to the country’s forest laws of other states. This would also limit the rights of cyclists and would also be inaccurate. In fact, the 2-meter rule provides only an illusory accuracy, one can not understand in practice. Elected in other states terms such as “appropriate way” or “safe oncoming traffic”, however, rely on the conscious assessment of the user instead of a rigid regulation regardless of the conditions of the terrain pretend. Rather, there will be familiar to the ability of citizens, responsible and considerate to deal with each other.

    In the resolution recommended by the Committee finally notes that it currently holds the Forest Act to be sufficient and would rely on the exemptions. Finally rejected the petition is not so: “The petition was forwarded to the government as a material. In addition, the Government is asked to report after one year. ”

    Parliament has decided on 10.16.2014 the recommendation of the Committee on Petitions to follow.

    We stay tuned and be given the thin justification nachhaken certainly not in a year.

    Link to recommended decision 15/5806:
    http://www.landtag-bw.de/files/live/sites/LTBW/files/dokumente/WP15/Drucksachen/5000/15_5806_D.pdf

    * Opinion, inter alia, to the “Tale of the fatal accidents”:
    http://dimb.de/images/stories/pdf/publikationen/Waldwegenutzung_im_Spannungsverhaltnis.pdf

    Prejudice and reality.
    http://dimb.de/images/stories/pdf/anlagen/Hessen2012/HEWaldG_Anlage_1_zur_Offiziellen_Stellungnahme.pdf

    Daily news on the subject. Follow us on Facebook.
    https://www.facebook.com/DIMB.OpenTrails

Viewing 30 posts - 1 through 30 (of 30 total)

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