2024-07-30 02:02:00
Now that it’s summer, tons of bikes and tractors meet on the narrow country roads. It often gets tense there.
Johann Steiner, district president of the Bavarian Farmers’ Association in Traunstein, can tell you a thing or two. His farm is located above Taqing Lake. Not only does the busy circular route around the Waginger See pass through his fields, but the Benedict Way is an almost 250-kilometre-long pilgrimage route dedicated to the memory of Pope Benedict XVI. ). From spring to fall, both routes are crowded with cyclists. “Friday afternoon to Sunday night is the worst,” the 59-year-old said.
Whenever possible, Hans Steiner postponed his field work to other days. And for good reason: “When I transport manure, outside of cycling season, it takes 30 minutes per bucket. During cycling season, it takes 50 minutes,” the farmer said. He likes to silage early in the morning or late in the evening – “to avoid stress”, as he puts it.
This “pressure” occurs automatically. Even asphalt farm roads were typically only two and a half or three meters wide – as wide as today’s tractors or manure bins. “I try to avoid it when I can, but I often ask myself where I should avoid it,” Tenlinger admits.
It helps to consider each other
According to road traffic regulations, when overtaking, motor vehicles must keep a distance of one and a half meters within the urban area and two meters outside the urban area. But on narrow country roads this is difficult, even impossible. That’s why only mutual consideration and understanding helps. The rule is this: If a tractor driver receives a clear sign of consent, he may overtake a cyclist very carefully—that is, he will drive slower, be aware of the person being overtaken, and be ready to reaction.
After all, not only are they as wide as a truck, but they can weigh up to seven tons even without a trailer and aren’t exactly safe for cyclists when the giant bulldog rushes past them. The regional chairman of Traunstein stressed that size often creates a false impression of speed. Steiner said most tractors travel much slower than you might think. “One time someone thought I was going 40km/h, so I took him on my Bulldog and showed him I was only doing 14km/h.”
But even when a tractor is traveling at moderate speeds, dangerous encounters with bicycles are inevitable. The place where dangerous encounters often occur is on the winding mountain road from Ten Ridge to Lampertsham near Palling. For months, a sign has been there asking cyclists to drive slower: “If there’s a cyclist coming down the hill fast, you as a bulldog rider have little chance of seeing him in time to react, ” Steiner said.
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