SPRING IS IN THE AIR (and we’re off to a SWELL start) (Old Website Articles VI)
Originally published on 6 April 2009, my first, and hopefully last, run-in with Berlin law enforcement is chronicled here. Contrary to what I found on the internet, the total fine amounted to EUR 123,50. I still think about it every time I pass that street…
Listening to: Alice in Chains – Dirt, and Bryan Adams – So Far So Good
Hooray it’s spring! The time to actually enjoy riding a bike has arrived! The nights are shorter, there’s more daylight to save, the birds are singing, and the leaves are turning green again! All is well – and I was just contemplating writing an update about how nice it is to watch the big-ass chestnut tree outside my window starting to bud again, when my musings were brutally interrupted by a woman, clad in a nondescript green uniform, (pic courtesy of one Thomas Knauf) who kindly requested me to step off my bike and then bluntly told me I had violated a rule. Dun dun dunnnnn! Apparently, a colleague a couple of hundred yards back had spotted me blatantly neglecting a red light! The symbol of Berlin! How dare I!
Would I care to deny it? she inquired. Well, there’s no use for that, and technically, she was right of course. I did neglect a red light. So I deserved a stern talking to, which was exactly what I got, about traffic security and rules and regulations and whatnot. All this would make an impact if the crossroads I broke the law on had not been completely empty at the time. Come on, I’m Dutch – aren’t traffic lights more decorative than anything else, for cyclists at least? (DISCLAIMER: in no way do I condone and/or encourage breaking the rules)(at least not when you’re being watched). Apparently, in Germany they aren’t, and this infraction was therefore gonna cost me – about 62,50 EUROS if my source, the Intarnet does not lie (there’s more corroborative sources by the way, just searchengine it). Also, and I don’t know if that applies to me as a non-German, normally you get one “point” on your driver’s license and can lose the right to drive a car for a month. Or something. Again, I probably got what’s coming to me and I’m not really complaining about that, but it does seem a bit excessive if you ask me. Also, the inflexibility with which the rules were enforced (not to mention the fact that that police post was put there especially to catch us jayriders) was kind of apalling. Also, it’s just a waste of money – not to mention the first real culture shock I’ve had since arriving here.
Well, without further ado, here’s the first green leaf I really noticed this year. The LAW won this one, and I did not even fight it (not consciously at least).
But that is not all the bike-related news I have. What’s worse, and considerably more expensive than the fine, is that I discovered to my amazement that this morning, my bike looked as if some drunk bum collapsed over it, or a bunch of drunk teenagers tried in vain to break it, or a drunk driver parked his car against it, or something similar. Result: bent wheels, brake lines … well the brakes don’t work anymore, etc etc. All minor inconeniences (except for the read wheel, that’s a major bend in the wrong dimension), but they will have to be repaired cause now my bike won’t roll like it used to. In fact, it won’t roll at all. And no, I did not think to take pictures of my mangled steel horse – I just dropped it off at the nearest Bicycle Repair Man (John Cleese’s reaction at the end is pretty much how I felt) and went home to think about what I had done to deserve this.
Then, I wrote this here update to see if it would make me feel better. That’s what blogs are for, isn’t it? Well, only time will tell I guess… The moral of the story is that the German Police take their work really seriously when it comes to ticketing, but not to protecting bikes (no I don’t blame them for that mishap!), and that the only thing left for me now is wallowing in self-pity. I’ll keep y’all updated on whether my bike turns out fine (pun intended).
PS. In refererence to my last update, I did go to see Biffy Clyro some time ago and it was ALL KINDS OF AWESOME! Now there’s a great band. I feel happier already thinking back to that gig…