Hamburg – He is Hamburg’s top traffic cop and has frightening numbers in his luggage!
Riding a bike is actually the most normal thing in the world. But more than 30 percent of the primary school children in the city cannot do exactly that – that is the devastating balance sheet from the head of the traffic department, Wolfgang Breust (55, 650 employees).
In the 3rd and 4th grades, the mostly nine and ten-year-olds at school have cycling and traffic education on their timetable. But of around 12,500 kids per year that the police reach with their traffic lessons, a third rattles through the test – because they have massive weaknesses in theory AND practice.
Breust: “A big problem. In addition to knowing the rules, many lack motor skills. The reason is also a different leisure time behavior: Many are not in sports clubs, do not move actively outside. Instead, mobile phone and TV consumption dominates.”
In socially weaker parts of the city, the rate tends to be lower. The parents’ taxis, on the other hand, are also a big problem: when the offspring are shuttled to the school gate. Breust: “As a result, children do not learn traffic, parents park cycle paths – dangerous.”
Nevertheless, Breust considers the cycle paths to be safer than they used to be. This is also proven by the accident figures: 407 children (up to the age of 14) had an accident last year – 4 percent less than in 2019.
Breust: “We invest in prevention, especially to reach children and the elderly. And we have to raise awareness among parents, who are often part of the problem.”
School children in traffic lessons
