Focus on safety

How can the safety of pedestrians and cyclists be improved, especially in everyday situations? The Arbeitsgemeinschaft fußgänger- und fahrradfreundlicher Städte, Gemeinden und Kreise in Nordrhein-Westfalen e. V.(AGFS) (Working Group of Pedestrian- and Bicycle-Friendly Cities, Communities and Districts in North Rhine-Westphalia) will place the topic of road safety at the center of its congress this year, which will take place on February 21, parallel to the popular public bicycle exhibition, at the Messezentrum Essen.

Experts from politics, administration and research will discuss, among other things, a modern traffic infrastructure that ensures greater safety, especially for local mobility, and the legal framework needed for this, such as an amendment to the road traffic regulations.

Subjective safety perceptions will also play a role in Essen: Pedestrians and cyclists increasingly feel harassed by motorized vehicles, and the relationship between pedestrians and cyclists is also often not characterized by consideration.

The road safety campaign “Love needs distance” presented at the congress addresses the often problematic distance behavior between dissimilar road users. It is being carried out cooperatively by the AGFS, the Zukunftsnetz Mobilität NRW and the Landesverkehrswacht NRW and is being financed and supported by the Ministry of Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.