ADFC and Radentscheid demand a cycle path on the country road between Dietzenbach and Heusenstamm
Also on Friday, February 24, Susanne Montiel rode her bike on the L3001 from Dietzenbach to Offenbach. “I do that every working day, from Offenbach to Dietzenbach to work in the morning and back in the evening. Wind and weather don’t bother me, cycling keeps me fit.” She has often experienced dangerous situations on her route, mostly on the section between Isenburger Strasse and Heusenstamm Industriestrasse. There is no cycling infrastructure here and she is forced to ride directly on the road. “I’m often overtaken here with far too little distance, unfortunately many drivers do not pay attention.”
Last Friday around 6.30 p.m. she didn’t stand a chance! A hundred meters before reaching the Isenburger Strasse intersection, a motorist overtook her without a gap and hit her handlebar with the mirror. Ms. Montiel fell to the right into the ditch. The result: a fracture on the head of the humerus, bruises everywhere, weeks of lost work and months of physiotherapy. “I was lucky that I fell to the right. If I had fallen in front of the car, it would have been a lot worse,” sums up Susanne Montiel.
No improvement since fatal accident three years ago
The ADFC in Heusenstamm and Dietzenbach, as well as the Radentscheid Offenbach, are taking this repeated serious accident on the country road between Heusenstamm and Dietzenbach as an opportunity to remind people of the required construction of a cycling infrastructure along the L 3001. Three years ago, a 51-year-old Offenbach cyclist was killed in a similar accident on the same route. At that time, improvements were promised, but nothing has happened so far. Roland Heidl, active for the ADFC and cycling officer from Heusenstamm, describes the great danger for cyclists in this section of the route. “Sometimes there are no speed limits, so you can drive up to 100 km/h. The straight and slippery road literally invites drivers to race.” and also reminds of the two-meter distance rule outside of towns, which is often not observed. “If a street is too narrow for the minimum distance or if sufficient distance cannot be maintained due to the traffic situation, overtaking is not permitted,” explains Roland Heidl.
In a letter to Dietzenbach’s mayor Dieter Lang, Michael Erzberger from ADFC Dietzenbach calls for the quick implementation of the required and planned cycling infrastructure. “After surveying work along the L 3001 could be observed in this regard, the situation should now be clarified quickly and the implementation accelerated.”
Accident could have been avoided with the appropriate cycling infrastructure
The injured Susanne Montiel is active in the Offenbach cycling event, as is Jochen Teichmann, spokesman for the Offenbach initiative, which is committed to promoting cycling. This accident could have been avoided with the appropriate cycling infrastructure,” says Teichmann and continues: “Unfortunately, 89 percent of the Hessian country roads still do not offer a suitable service. There are now many commuting cyclists who also use country roads to get to work, school or university. Safe connections for cyclists are needed here. Planning cycle paths on country roads takes far too long!”
(Text: Joint press release by ADFC Dietzenbach, ADFC Heusenstamm and Radentscheid Offenbach)
