Interview: Thomas Geisler (pressedienst-fahrrad)
Mr Haase, at the beginning of the year, it was announced that indicators would soon also be approved for bicycles. The reactions to this have been polarising. Busch & Müller presented an indicator system for S-pedelecs in the summer. How do you view the latest news and what new insights does it provide?
We have taken note of the topic with interest and are surprised at the number of enquiries we are currently receiving. We are very pleased about this, as we were one of the first to launch the topic and have been working on our system for a few years. However, what has now been publicised still raises a number of questions.
For those who missed it: In this article, we explain the background to the indicator debate.
>> Bicycles in road traffic: Soon bicycle indicators for everyone?
How is this to be understood?
With the "Turntec", we have a turn indicator in preparation that is approved for use on S-pedelecs, multi-track e-bikes and bicycle trailers. It therefore fulfils the necessary legal requirements for this application. Until now, we assumed that the upcoming legal change would be about indicators for e-bikes. Now we are talking about bicycles. But the power of a dynamo on a non-electrified bicycle is too weak to supply an indicator with sufficient energy in the short term. The bikes would therefore also need a separate battery system. The question then arises as to whether this is permitted by law and what minimum requirements the batteries must fulfil. It is therefore not yet clear to us what requirements are placed on the indicators. The current reports do not provide us with a clear distinction. For e-bikes, a direction indicator makes sense and is technically easy to implement, but for normal bicycles it will be difficult.
So there will be no compulsory indicators for everyone?
No, we are not assuming an obligation for direction indicators for all cyclists. That would create too much turbulence. However, legal authorisation for indicators would be a great thing.
What are the advantages of indicators on bikes?
Clearly the higher level of safety. Indicating a turn with the arm worked great for decades - but only during the day. The arm is no longer visible in the dark. Another point is cargo bikes. It is difficult to steer the bikes with a full load, brake and still use one arm to turn. Older people with heavy e-bikes are also familiar with such problems. Or if you are travelling downhill and have to brake, there is usually no way to indicate when you are turning. In addition, it is now normal in road traffic to recognise bright lights and flashing lights as a potential source of danger. We therefore see great benefits for indicators and think that they will become established because they are safety-relevant and convenient.
However, there are those who criticise it: You can't even see the indicator on the bike because the bike is too narrow and the change of direction is therefore not recognisable in bright light. Is that true?
That is certainly an argument, but one that can be quickly refuted. As the driver behind, I don't have to look two hundred metres ahead to see where someone is turning in front of me; the last twenty or thirty metres are enough. Even in daylight, the indicators are bright enough to be clearly recognisable at this distance. We base our light values on the specifications for other mopeds. The conclusion from our test rides is therefore that the indicators are easily recognisable even in daylight.
Do you know when the licence for indicators will be implemented? There is already talk of January.
We cannot say exactly when it will be introduced. However, we assume that it will take a few more months.
