Latest police spot checks on cyclists

Well my fave boys in green are doing a fabulous job as usual.

Just to warn you in case you hadn’t seen on the local papers or heard about it, they are doing a MASSIVE crackdown on people cycling after drinking – think Beer Gardens – and also cyclists without lights etc. One nice Mass at the beer garden can put you over the limit and as most are accessible by public transport, I tend to leave my bike at home.

Unlike the polizei’s current “war on drugs�? (searching people at central Munich underground stations, be careful) which is basically a victimless "crime" I suppose you are endangering others being drunk on a bike too. Just they seemed to be going about it in a heavy handed manner the other night in Glockenbachviertel.

Just as a heads up to any cyclists out there - the Polizei are hanging out in plain clothes by the junction at Siegestor - anybody caught riding through a red is being stopped and charged by the side of the cycle path. Dude I saw has a grey striped T-shirt and dark blue jeans and looks very casual, until at the last minute he pulls out one of those white batons with a red light on and stops you. Bastard.

I was had by them a few years ago in the same spot, 60eur fine... Must be a fave of theirs.

Also, I was cycling back in the dark on Friday evening along the 2-way cycle path on the East of the river. I saw a car parked up ahead on the pedestrian bit, then I noticed there was something on top of the car, then I simultaneously realised that the something was the police lights and that the person standing there was a cop with his white baton thing. So U-Turn I did and went to the other side of the river.

Seems like the forces are generally out more recently.. MVV controllers and this etc... Time to behave.

Also spotted at Sendlinger Tor.
On the spot €25 fine.

happened to me last year. same spot. the man jumped out of the bushes on me. had to pay 75 euro.

Why the differences in amount ? is this just dependant on the mood of the policeman at the time ?

or maybe how much in debt the Police are at the time.

Depends on what technicality they get you I suppose.

It might be a general crack down on traffic issues due to new school year, there was a thread on that last Friday.

BTW, from what I heard even if you have a CONVINCING excuse ie: "The sun was so bright and I got blinded and didn't see the light change" they are STILL gonna fine you.

Bear in mind that POLICE fines are done by State of Bavaria, TRAFFIC WARDEN fines by City of Munich.

For all you gas guzzlers, there seems to be a lot of traffic warden activity too right now. But why the hell does ANYONE want to drive for a night out in Glockenbach anyway? We've 4 underground lines, 4 tramlines and 4 bus routes, leave the effing car at home will ya!

The difference between a 75 euro and 25 euro fine depends on time until the red light changes to green.

If you run the red light under 3 secs before it changes, then it's 25 euro and above, 75 euro.

I should know, last year I was fortunate enough to be awarded a 75 euro fine ... but managed to convince the officer (male, of course), that a 25 euro fine seemed appropriate ... all thanks, to my Canadian charm .. I guess! xoxo

I have been told that being fined on your bike may also add points to your actual driving license...is this true?

Cyclists can have points put on their driving licence for cycling offences, yes.

Driving licences can also be withdrawn as a penalty / administrative action for offences not directly connected to traffic.

WTF:

I paid 62,50 + 25 euro processing fee the other day. (a few weeks)

that's a wonderful 88 eurobucks for nothing. i was even looking each way making sure noone was coming.

fascists.

I think you only get the points if you produce your DL as ID. There was a documentary on that the other day. A guy was riding his bike drunk and since he used his DL for ID he got his DL suspended for six months plus a fine.

If you get pulled over for being on the wrong side with your bicycle, play like a foriegner that knows nothing and be very sorry. Works for all the foriegn students that I work with. Just don't get caught by the same guy twice though.

i think i got a 75 euro fine because when he jumped out in front of me i couldn't stop; my brakes weren't working that day. i almost ran him over. ouch.

got shafted for 25 euro on leo strasse/georgenstrasse a little junction.

i actually stopped at the red light and happy to do so as i was carrying a massive cricket bag..gave me a nice little break.

anyway after having stopped for say around 45 secs i anticipated the red turning to orange which it did..

low and behold up the road nearer the uni.. they are fuckin mob-handed with 3 divvy vans the full works..saying i've failed to stop at a red light.

no point in arguing with these fuckers. makes it worse...he would have given me a 75 fine else. thats the way they work.

i look around after the busy's finished taking my particulars for this heinous crime and there's a queue behind me of 7-8 people being done too.

i would say something deep and meaningful about where are the police when you need them..but will resist.

happy days.

arbeit macht frei.

I also got fined for crossing a red light on my bicycle at Siegestor about a month ago. When you are headed north, there is a traffic light on a very small street to the right of the roundabout. The street never has any cars and so is very tempting to cross. It is clearly a revenue raising measure.

well speak too soon peeps ... yesterday, my beau got a well-deserved 25 euro fine on leostrasse/georgenstrasse also!!

i just laughed ... since i've been warning him on cost of running red lights (i too have been fortunate enough to have received a 25 yoyo fine). he deserved it!!

And that's exactly the spot I mentioned in my initial post - they've been around a fair bit in the past, but yesterday was the first time that I saw plain clothes officers doing it.

Yes it was a plain-clotheser on a bike who got me too. He had to ride pretty hard to catch me too! I almost laughed when he stopped me and then held up is little stop sign.

One point worth noting, he had a side panier bag with a radio in it. Watch out for those bikes with a big radio aerial sticking out the back.

My gf called me this morning, and said there are LOTS of police about. Dont give them an excuse to fine you this morning!!!

The little green men/women are out in force in the northern territories. Mainly around major crossings going to school.

Yep - saw a young lady all in green by a set of traffic lights on the junction of Amalien- and Turkenstr. this morning - poor cow was getting soaked. That'll teach her.

Our roving crime reporter has just reported that our friends in green (and those out of uniform but in natty bike shorts) are doing spot checks on bicycles on the Nymphenburgerstrasse outside Nr. 126-138 Thai restaurant Chao Praya., right now. Both sides of the street too.

So make sure you're going the right way and you have all your lights and gizmos on (STVO).

Just heard that there are about 6 coppers checking cyclists in the Rotkreuzplatz.

Just in case !

gah..they should be out catching proper criminals.
filth.

are there any proper criminals in Munich?

yep, all the foreigners.

Got a fine from the coppers the other day, was utterly p*ssed off afterwards! Long story, but the guy didn't suss out that I was foreign, was actually all nice about it untill he asked for my ID and saw that I was one of zem dreaded Ausländer. He sure changed his tune after that and I had to listen to "eine deutsche Staatsbürgerin hätte das bestimmt gewußt" and so on. I had to pay 10 bucks for cycling in the pedestrian area. Was going so slow and all, many cyclists were going past me but no, he had to pick me! This was near Marienplatz, so keep a look out for them coppers!

TOO LATE FOR ME!!!

coppers caught me "driving on the wrong side of the street" and I had
to pay € 15,- ...typically German attitude from the cops, too...arrogant and
stupid...

anyways (note to myself:"gotta stop bashing those stupid germans, altough they deserve it").

I have seen them now pretty much every day at Rotkreutzplatz,
so be on the look out for those "kermit-the-frog" coloured "gentlemen"!

I think they were doing a bike check near Isartor today. Some guy shouted at me before I got there and I was looking back in bewilderment at him. Then I turned round and saw a gaggle of cops with vans and cyclists so I made a sharp detour to avoid possible conflict (I have a natural instinctual fear of the law from my boy racer days).

The Police have announced they'll be doing a massive check on cyclists tomorrow, Wednesday, from 6am to 10pm, so make sure you stop at red lights, etc.

They're at it again, this time in uniform on Ludwigstr/Schellingstr, ie. the inner city part of Leopoldstr, but very sneaky. As you head north along the street where Schellingstr joins on the left there's a small traffic light for cyclists because there's a pedestrian crossing and sometimes a lot of people crossing. When it's quiet there is nooo point for cyclists to stop here, the road is wide and so are the cycle lanes and footpath but yesterday there was a Polizei b@stard hidden in the columns of the building on the right radioing ahead to the rest of the filth further up. Doing a fairly brisk trade they were too, catching hardened criminals who cycled through the red light, and for the first time in 8 years they got me too. Wankers. Watch out...

So you all know: I got a 'Verwarnung mit Zahlungsaufforderung' for 25 euro which says I 'missachtet als Radfahrer das Rotlicht', which isn't strictly true - I went straight through it because I was alone on the street and there was nobody else around except the bastard hidden behind me with the radio.

I cross Knorrstrasse on a red light virtually every day right in front of the police station, often with police watching, and I've never been done for it. I reckon they must have a special "let's fuck with the cyclists" division that is based in another station in the town centre.

They're currently on Residenzstraße in the city center, just before Ed Meier.

Lots of the buggers, nicking people for not much as always. Just because they have nothing to do between the Weis'n. Charming. Not good PR. No no no.

I was stopped by them yesterday. No problems, no fines, and they were so friendly even when my German went AWOL. They pointed out the law, listened to my excuse, and told me to carry on. Much better than the usual fine and no humour.

The plod were nicking cyclists for cycling without lights on Allacherstraße a few nights ago.

Good idea IMO, cycling at night without lights is very dangerous.

There are bad cyclists out there, good the police are controlling.

And there are bad drivers too, the police do spot checks on them too, the police were on Arnulfstraße yesterday morning doing speed checks.

I've been stopped numerous times for breathalysing when I've been driving late at night, always found the police to be courteous and polite.

The roads need to be kept safe!

The siutation in the Residenzstrasse has long been a topic in City Hall. This is a quote from the response of the City Secretary for Construction from January of this year:


rough translation: After a serious accident between a pedestrian and a mountainbiker in front of the Preysingpalais (where the street is halfway blocked by a speedbump and metal posts) and several complaints regarding excessive speed and inconsiderate behavior by cyclists no less than 17 measures were decided and introduced. In August and September 2007 police monitored cyclists and delivery vans, leading to a temporary improvement.
By January 2008, however, the same old disregard of regulations became obvious - cyclists too fast, taxis driving down the street, delivery vans disregarding the delivery time limit.
City Hall is still working on a solution.

I worked in the Preysingpalais for seven years and regularly administered help to cyclists and pedestrians, from showing them the way to the pharmacy in the Residenz to running upstairs to get the orthopedist when medical assistance was necessary. The only way to prevent accidents on that stretch is to physically separate the cyclists from the pedestrians by creating separate lanes as the latter rely on the pedestrian zone status of the street for their protection and the cyclists - in general - don't give a damn.
No deliveries via Residenzstrasse any more, everything must be delivered via Theatinerstrasse and that thoroughfare should be closed down with flexible barriers at 10am (end of delivery period).

The Spatenhaus and the Franziskaner may have to reduce the number of their outside tables as they create bottlenecks where pedestrians and cyclists inevitably get entangled. But such situations are a great opportunity of learning some juicy German swearwords. No cloud without a silver lining.

All in all, such traffic checks are necessary as long as the rules are disregarded. Look at the signs, learn what they mean, respect them. Remember, your Mother is always right (@ grobah).

There were ten polizei or so on Residenzstraße when I passed through.

As one officer was writing a ticket to some poor guy, the other one said to me "Handy ganz weg." Apparently you can't SMS or check the time as you cycle now. As I was just having it in my hands and not looking at it, they let me roll past.

Then sensing I was needing to get out of there, I clicked it up a gear and was cycling *just over* the Schritt Tempo. Another stopped me and did his best to impress the rules to me. Of course I only spoke English back so he seemed distractedly proud of his English usage and forgot to give me a ticket. I still was only going at a fast walk tempo anyway.

Just a friendly FYI. The polizei are out in force again in the Residenz strasse area handing out tickets left and right for phone usage and any 'tempo' above walking speed.

But I guess smoking while biking is still ok. Anyone want to try out that theory? Now's the chance.

They are pathetic, five of them stood near that dodgers alley place, absolutely everyone walked through with their bikes except for one guy on a three wheeler (who was obviously disabled) guess what they stopped him.

If he was going too fast, fair enough. The guys walking their bikes were being Duckmäuser, they would have passed the memorial and saluted back in the III Reich.

AFAIK there's know speed limit for cyclists, and issuing a ticket for going 'too fast' sounds like a non-starter as it would be 'too fast' by what measure?

Mrs. Angel just informed me that the police are stopping cyclists making the very reasonable shortcut along the tram tracks on Tegernseerlandstr between the Post office and the McDonalds. That will probably cost you 25 euro. It seems to be the open season again on pointless harmless but technical transgressions of bizarre rules so if you're out on two wheels then stick to the rules until the weather turns...

I think this "too fast" is only in pedestrian zones. There is such a place near Odeonplatz for instance, which is the one they are talking about I think.

There are signs on both entrances to Residenzstrasse saying Schrittgeschwindigkeit, they apply to all vehicles, motorized or not. If Mr. Tricycle was going too fast, he deserved to get stopped. Was he ticketed? Possibly the cops wanted to give him a run-down of why they were cracking down on cyclists et al. Officially, the Residenzstrasse is a pedestrian zone and cyclists are olbigated to push their bikes. The city makes an exception providing that they stick to the rules and give right of way to pedestrians.

I went through there yesterday as well and although I saw several people pushing their bikes past a group of cops I didn't really understand what was going on. At the entrance to the street was a sign with a bicycle inside a red circle (no line through the bike) which I though meant bikes allowed?

Obviously it means something different and I managed to get off my bike before going by the cops (although they did see me riding earlier) and they let me pass with no problems. Another lady next to me didn't get off her bike at all and the cops asked her to get off, no ticket though.

My question is what does that sign mean? I'll post a picture if I can find one.

EDIT: Boo! I just looked up the sign and it seems it means "Verbot für Radfahrer". I guess that would be why people were walking their bikes. Hehe, the cops must have thought I was being really cheeky cycling through there and dismounting just as I came up to them. I always thought things that were Verboten had a line through them (ex. no smoking etc.), it would make a heck of a lot more sense that way.

It has been a Fußgängerzone with "Fahrräder frei". Pushing bikes has definitely not been obligatory, officially or otherwise. However, the Schritttempo is sporadically enforced--strictly.

However, based on what Eleanor Rigby posted, there are/were Fahrrad verboten signs up the other day. I would speculate this has something to with a recent accident and/or the scaffolding on the Residenz, which has made for a very hairy blind corner when approaching the opera. Does anyone know for sure what the reason was, and if the Verbot signs are still up?

There has been significant debate in local transport circles about that street as a bike route for some time, but it has always concluded firmly on the side of bicyclists, as there really is no practical alternative route. I, personally, would be taken aback (and slightly outraged) if that has changed.


You've been here how long?

Police were also out in force last night along Residenzstraße.
As you came down Leopoldstraße to Odeonsplatz, there were huge traffic jams of cyclists, all getting off their bikes and saying that the Polizei were ahead.
Was quite amusing, since everyone deliberately walked very slowly past the 15 or so cops, and then immediately got on their bikes again 2 metres later, in plain sight of the aforementioned blokes in green.
Edit : I see I've been last in line to report this.

I cycled by here half an hour ago and the No Cyclists signs are still up (portable signs placed in the middle of the road) but not down as far as the opera - just along Odeonsplatz as far as dodger's alley aka Viscardigasse. There is something going on on Odeonsplatz and it is cordoned off behind high metal barriers that also cover half the road so it is very narrow; I guess they figure all those cyclists and pedestrians should not be mingling on such a narrow route. Definitely looks temporary. No police and everyone stayed on their bikes but all were cycling very slowly, couldn't go faster if you wanted to.

They are probably just starting to setup for 'Klassik am Odeonsplatz' which is on this Saturday / Sunday nights. During the performances and probably quite a bit before, there is no through traffic allowed (i.e. bikes) from Odeonsplatz to Marienplatz.

On the other topic, I also thought that symbol meant biking WAS allowed. Thanks for the enlightenment.