09/2021: "Love needs distance" campaign

With the launch of the road safety action plan at the end of 2019, the city of Aachen applied to the Zukunftsnetz Mobilität NRW to take part in the road safety campaign "Liebe braucht Abstand" (Love needs distance). It was one of a total of six municipalities to be awarded the contract for implementation in 2020.

On July 4, 2019, preparations began for the implementation of the campaign, from whose network, content results and products the city of Aachen still benefits today.

"Love needs distance" is a municipal road safety campaign by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is aimed at cities and municipalities that want to proactively identify and reduce accident risks.

With the "Love needs distance" campaign, the state of NRW has been supporting interested and committed municipalities in their road safety work since 2019. Membership of the "Working Group of Pedestrian and Bicycle-Friendly Cities, Municipalities and Districts in North Rhine-Westphalia" (AGFS NRW) is a prerequisite for participation.

In 2020, Aachen (like the cities of Bochum, Bonn, Cologne, Lünen, Paderborn and Wuppertal) went through the campaign modules under the guidance of an external office

• 10.03.2020: Dialogue with stakeholders as part of the road safety conference, 5 - 8 p.m. in the Generali-Saal of the SuperC at RWTH Aachen University. The conference was attended by 45 representatives from the fields of citizens, retail, interest groups, chambers, driving schools, education, transport services, freight logistics, politics, police and administration. Together with the participants, the requirements and goals of road safety work in Aachen were determined, taking into account their individual perspectives.
• from 10.03.2020: Media campaign 2020: The campaign used City Light Posters (CLP) in public spaces to promote safer and more respectful interaction in traffic. Advertising and campaign materials in the campaign design were handed out to citizens. These were also available from 01.05.-30.08.2020 via the RydeUp bonus app as a token of appreciation for using sustainable mobility options.
• 23/24.06.2020: Actions on site
• Interim conclusion with the Future Mobility Network NRW
  
• Consolidation workshop with the core administration team,
• 08.07.2021: the Mobility Committee unanimously adopts the "Road Safety Declaration of the City of Aachen"
  

The politically approved declaration makes an important technical and communicative contribution to the future strategic approach to road safety work in the city of Aachen.

In the process of developing it, a network was formed that brings together those responsible from various areas who are professionally and/or voluntarily involved with mobility in Aachen. They multiply road safety work and make it successful.

The guiding principle "The future traffic behavior of the people of Aachen is considerate and characterized by attentive composure" was developed and jointly formulated for the perspective vision for road safety in Aachen. The following guiding principles were identified as useful for this purpose:

• Consideration,
• Respect,
• Rulebook,
• Empathy/understanding,
• anticipatory and responsible driving and movement,
• Uniqueness/communication/gesture and community.

Following the campaign, it is now important to create the necessary foundations by making compliant behavior, benevolent understanding for one another, openness in communication and equal rights for road users self-evident principles.

The change of perspective trips and the resulting films were the first product that the city of Aachen developed and implemented on its own initiative, inspired by the campaign:

• 22.09.2020, episode 1: City Councillor Frauke Burgdorff rides a bicycle or a 40t truck together with Ralf Dovermann (Dovermann Driving School),
• 17.09.2021, episode 2: Lord Mayor Sibylle Keupen takes the wheel of an ASEAG bus and, after a short briefing and accompanied by driving instructor Christof Extra, drives it several laps around the ASEAG premises.