DThe bicycle blogger and cycling activist Andreas Mandalka, who is well-known in Germany, died in a bicycle accident in the Enzkreis (Baden-Württemberg) on Tuesday evening. The 43-year-old man, who documented dangerous traffic situations on his blog “Natenom” for years and who fought for more consideration for cyclists with a spacer on the rear wheel, was traveling on state road 574 a few kilometers south of Pforzheim on Tuesday evening when he was hit by one A 77-year-old driver was hit. Despite resuscitation, he died a few minutes after the collision.
Mandalka died in an accident that he had always wanted to prevent through his years of political commitment: the person who caused the accident probably did not maintain sufficient distance and hit the cyclist from behind. At 6:55 p.m., Mandalka had made a final post on his blog “Natenom”: “You overtake someone on the country road at night with your giant asshole tank SUV that you almost blow them off the road, despite oncoming traffic being visible from far away.”
He called for more cycle paths along country roads
According to a report in the “Badische Neuesten Nachrichten” (BNN), Mandalka is said to have also fought politically for a cycle path along the country road there. Although there is a cycle path there, Mandalka was of the opinion that it was in poor condition and unusable. Since 2021, cyclists are no longer required to use the cycle path, so they are more likely to use the country road.
The blogger repeatedly documented many dangerous near-accidents and then reported them to the authorities and the police. The officials accused him of acting with “zealousness” and of violating data protection rules when documenting. He himself once complained in an interview with the newspaper of the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC) that he was mostly perceived as a “troublemaker”.
Mandalka lived in the Black Forest and cycled 50 to 80 kilometers every day. He particularly criticized the lack of cycle paths along country roads. With his “swimming pool noodle” on the luggage rack, he tried to keep overtaking vehicles at a distance. In urban areas, drivers must maintain a distance of 1.5 meters when overtaking a cyclist, and two meters outside of urban areas. According to Mandalka's daily experience, only about a third of drivers keep this distance, the reasons for this vary: ignorance, incorrect assessment of the distance, negligence or the malicious intent to intimidate cyclists.
The Baden-Württemberg Transport Minister Winfried Hermann (Greens) wants to have around 2,000 kilometers of new cycle paths built along state and federal roads by 2040. Hermann told the FAZ: “After this tragic accident, we will take a close look at the course of the accident and analyze it. In my opinion, you should think about an additional speed limit on some state roads that are narrow.” After Mandalka's death became known, around 40 bicycle enthusiasts met for a small memorial service in front of the Ministry of Transport in Stuttgart.
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