Bicycle training for greater safety

The city's "FahrRad in Aachen" campaign aims to help all adults to better assess their own cycling behavior and contribute to increasing their sense of safety in road traffic. All training sessions should help to maintain the joy of cycling for as long and as safely as possible.

More and more people are rediscovering cycling. Because cycling is a good way to stay fit and mobile. With the "FahrRad in Aachen" campaign, we want to get more Aacheners out and about by bike. Of course, this applies to all age groups. The aspect of road safety is very important here. Cyclists do not have a crumple zone. It is therefore important to feel safe on a bike. In addition, more and more people are switching to electrically powered pedelecs or using cargo bikes.

The city offers various training programs. One is for those who can cycle but feel unsafe and would like to refresh their cycling experience or learn to cycle again. The main aim of this program is to help people to enjoy cycling for as long as possible and at the same time prevent traffic accidents. There are also basic and advanced courses for pedelecs and a course for cargo bikes. Here, participants practice familiarizing themselves with the technology.

There are pedelec test days for those who are considering buying an electrically powered bike. Various models are available to try out.

The courses are offered in German and English.

Dates

Traffic and mobility education in Floriansdorf

Information about traffic signs, cycle lanes, protective lanes, one-way streets, pedestrian zones, wearing a cycle helmet with egg-helmet test, behavior at traffic lights, roadworthy cycling.

Soft training

Police experience shows that children's cycling safety (motor skills, sense of balance, coordination skills) has declined significantly in recent years: children who take part in cycling training in the 4th grade are often unable to ride their bikes safely on the road. For this reason, cycling should be practiced in a safe area (e.g. school playground) from the 1st grade onwards. Track lane, ball sports and snail races. These are just a few of the many exercises with which the children will have fun practicing cycling in the Floriansdorf. Bicycles are available. Only helmets need to be brought along.

Blind spot

Theoretical lessons: deals with "Trucks turning right at intersections" and "Truck traffic in pedestrian areas".
Practical lessons: the pupils have the opportunity to explore the different angles of a fire engine and see for themselves that sometimes nothing can be seen.

The collision of trucks/buses and pedestrians or cyclists at junctions is one of the most dangerous situations in road traffic. The "blind spot" is a frequent cause of serious accidents.

The "blind spot" is the area that cannot be seen by the driver despite the mirrors. This area varies in size depending on the number of windows and rear-view mirrors and cannot be completely avoided. Drivers must therefore always look over their shoulder to the rear to make sure that no cyclists or pedestrians are in their path. Trucks and buses have particularly large blind spots. This is why it is also important to teach children to always look over their shoulder to the rear.

Light campaign

Theoretical lessons: bicycle lights, reflective vests
Practical lessons: black box and being seen - reflective materials and more

• The aim of the Black Box is to demonstrate the two functions of bicycle lighting: "Seeing and being seen".

A student gets on a bike, pedals and illuminates the inside of the "black box" with a bicycle lamp, in which an evening street scene is recreated. Several cyclists can now be seen through a small viewing window - seven with and four without lights. The ones with lights are easy to count. The ones without are much harder to recognize, if at all. This makes it possible to experience that bicycle lights not only illuminate the surroundings, but mainly serve as "position lights". A competition can be held. The correct answer must then be entered on the winning card.

• Being seen - reflective materials and more

In addition to "seeing", the issue of "being seen" plays at least as important a role for participation in road traffic. At dusk, in the dark and in poor visibility conditions, people's visual acuity is reduced by up to 80%. This means that a lot of information from the road environment is lost. For this reason, this module aims to familiarize students with the importance and effectiveness of reflective materials. There are now numerous reflective materials for bicycles, for hanging over clothing and for sewing or sticking on. These various reflective materials are attached to the themed wall and a viewer is used to experience how they work.

Further topics