Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Back to news
news
Miscellaneous
German politician protests against inconsiderate drivers - by parking his cargo bike in the roadPopped into the bakers via Thomas Geffe on Twitter.JPG

German politician protests against inconsiderate drivers - by parking his cargo bike in the road

Thomas Geffe put a sign on it saying he'd just popped into the baker's...
by Simon_MacMichael
Thu, Jun 22, 2017 14:59
3

A local politician in Germany who was fed up of motorists who block cycle lanes while they pop into shops got his own back – by parking his cargo bike on the road with a cardboard sign saying he had nipped into the bakers.

Thomas Geffe, who is a member of the ‘Good Voters of Cologne’ political block, tweeted a picture of his bike with the image being widely shared, reports thelocal.de.

He said he got the idea on Saturday morning after spotting a piece of cardboard on top of his fridge and decided to put it to good use by writing the kind of excuse he typically hears from drivers who park inconsiderately.

He said: “Politicians aren’t really doing much about this,” and that the police’s attitude was that cyclists could just ride round the parked cars.

He added: “I wanted to get across the absurdity of common excuses that drivers make when they park in the cycle lane.”

Geffe said his protest did not block traffic – he jumped off the bike to take the photo, then hopped back on and rode away.

Thomas Geffe
Cologne
Germany
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

3 comments

Avatar
ConcordeCX | 7 years ago
0 likes

Pedal reflectors should be able to flash on and off as hazard warning lights. That makes everything ok, including RLJing and not paying Road Tax. It's a simple solution and would immediately bring the road war to an end.

Avatar
kitsunegari | 7 years ago
1 like

If you tried that stunt here, someone would probably get out of their car and physically threaten you or move your bike.

Thats assuming they could be bothered to get out of their car and not just run your bike off the road.

Avatar
brooksby | 7 years ago
1 like

Excellent! Next time he should repair a flat tyre in the middle of a road (for some reason, I'm constantly* encountering AA vans and their customers up on the footpath/shared-use path on part of my commute).

(*Disclaimer: not actually all of the time)

Latest Comments