<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/07/europe-us-car-culture-bigger-vehicles-harms-suvs-trucks>
"On a brisk winter’s evening in Europe’s automotive heartland, a cyclist who
had pushed for safer streets went out on his bike for a final time. Andreas
Mandalka had documented dangerous driving and shoddy cycling infrastructure for
years, measuring the margins at which cars zipped past him and posting videos
of blatant violations. While quick to remind readers that only a small
proportion of drivers behaved badly, the 44-year-old blogger in
Baden-Württemberg, Germany, had grown frustrated with authorities for failing
to act. He felt they viewed him as a nuisance.
As he cycled down a straight stretch of renovated road that runs parallel to a
forest path he had flagged for poor quality, lights bright on his bike and
helmet firm on his head, he was fatally struck from behind by a car.
“I went to bed that evening, took a quick look at my phone and saw a police
report of an accident in our area,” said Siegfried Schüle, a friend of
Mandalka’s from a cycling organisation in Pforzheim. “I immediately had a very
strange feeling. I reposted this tweet from the police, with typos and
everything, and just wrote: ‘Andreas, how are you?’ That was my last message to
him.”
Mandalka was one of 19,934 people killed in 2024 on EU roads, which are among
the safest in the world. Traffic collisions cause 1.19m deaths around the world
each year.
As carmakers flood the market with bigger and more harmful models, the added
pressures of air pollution, climate breakdown and volatile petrol and diesel
prices are fuelling renewed efforts to break the societal dependence on
automobiles.
“It’s not about taking anything away from anyone,” said Schüle, a startup
founder. “It’s just about giving everyone the same freedom – even if they don’t
have a driver’s licence – to move safely.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
