The traffic educators of the police controlled the illumination of the cyclists at Frankfurter schools. They gave valuable information to young people.
Especially in the dark season, you cannot float without functioning lighting on the bike in mortal danger. Then you need to carry reflective material. Therefore, the police inspection Further started in cooperation with the Hamburger roundabout the action “safe way to school” in Further.
Just after half past eight, it’s starting to get light. The first children arrive at the school center in Furthest with their bicycles. The two traffic educators of the police, Dominique Hem and Matthias Kraft, stop the cyclists, who are initially surprised why police are in front of the school.
One of the first is Christina Miller, who drives every day from her place of residence Syllabary to the Gymnasium. The lighting works perfectly and otherwise, the bicycle of the 13-year-olds is safe for traffic. “That’s how it should be so that it is perceived by other road users in the gloomy morning hours,” Hem and Kraft, who serve sweets as a small reward for safety awareness, are happy.
But it does not take a long time, and then the first “traffic offender” has joined the police. For an eleven-year-old boy, the complete lighting is out of order. Kraft quickly recognizes that the connecting cables are not plugged into the front lamp, and wants to provide first aid. But even after proper installation, it remains dark. “There seems to be some other defect,” Kraft says, handing the student a checklist. Caution money is waived, but the bike must be demonstrated immediately to the police after the defects have been rectified.
At the same time, the same action takes place in Registered in front of the middle school. There, the traffic officer Stefan Schedar and his colleague Warner Frontman are in action. “We even had the case that a teacher with unlit bike came to school,” says Schedar after the end of the action. Frontman adds: “The caretaker had behaved very well, cycling four times to his workstation and even wearing a safety vest.”
The traffic educators explain what a safe bicycle should look like. Prescribed are two independent brakes, a bell that should not be too quiet, as well as non-slip and firmly screwed pedals, which are equipped with two pedal reflectors. In addition, a lamp and a white reflector are mandatory at the front, as well as a red tail light and a red reflector at the back. Four yellow spoke reflectors, so-called cat’s eyes must be fitted in the spokes, with alternative reflective tapes being allowed on the tires. A dynamo is no longer mandatory. Since 2013 lamps with battery or battery operation have been approved. “Without this equipment, a bike may not be used in traffic,” emphasizes Ham and adds that according to the road traffic licensing regulations, the lighting must also function during the day. The lighting system is particularly susceptible to interference: cable connections tear easily, bulbs burn through, the dynamo runs hard or does not work, battery or battery are dead. Therefore, the two spoke reflectors per wheel and the front and rear reflectors are particularly important, they guarantee a minimum of visibility, even with unusual lighting or wheel stop. “Especially with children, a colorful pennant is recommended, because they are often seen only very late due to their size,” adds colleague Kraft in view of the fact that of course on all trips good visibility is important, not only on the way to school.
Although not mandatory, highly recommended is also a bicycle helmet. Julius Govt from Further was the best example of this. The bike of the ten-year high school student is absolutely safe and he always wears his helmet. Stefan Schedar explains why a bicycle helmet makes a lot of sense: “The helmet absorbs up to two-thirds of the energy that would impact directly on the head in a crash without a helmet, which means that helmet wearers are less likely to have serious head injuries such as skull fractures or cerebral hemorrhages comes “. In addition, modern bicycle helmets are equipped with reflectors, which ensure that they are better seen by motorists in the dark.
In total, around 50 cyclists were checked on Monday morning. Ten of them had no lights on the bike. Matthias Kraft also knows that there is not always a technical defect: “In some cases it was the case that the students follow the motto ‘I can see, so the others see me too’ Of course, this is a fallacy, because it is especially important at twilight that the weaker road users in relation to the car turn the lights on to be seen even better.