Here comes the big mobility revolution of the little legs: 150,000 participants worldwide at 500 demonstrations for child-friendly streets – never seen before!
Berlin/Bern/Hamburg/Cologne/London/Verden, May 7, 2023.
It was phenomenal! The Kidical Mass action alliance celebrates a new record of participants!
According to first forecasts (as of Sunday 15:30) the Kidical Mass Action Alliance brought in on 5./6./7. May 150,000 Participants in over 500 places on the wheels.
From the metropolitan region to rural areas, Kidical Mass demands: Streets are for everyone! During three days of action, children, parents, friends and schools campaigned for child- and bicycle-friendly places, safe routes to school and independent mobility. In the coming weeks there will be numerous other activities.
Numbers/Data/Facts
Worldwide: more than 500 actions and 150,000 participants from 0 to 99 years of age
Quotes / mood on the ground
“We children want safe routes. When we go to school or kindergarten, or when we cycle we want to feel safe. We want cars to drive slower. E.g. speed 30!” (Flora, 9 years / Cologne)
“From the province to the metropolis: The enormous participation in the Kidical Mass action days is a clear message to the political decision makers: Citizens want the big mobility revolution of the little legs – also in Germany! We hereby call upon the politicians the traffic system now, so that children can move safely in everyday life.” (Simone Kraus, Kidical Mass Initiator Team)
Call for action to the politicians
On behalf of all participants, the Action Alliance hereby asks again:
- When will the road traffic law focuses on the need for protection of children and vulnerable groups?
- When will children be able to move safely and independently in public spaces again? Cities such as Paris, Ghent and Utrecht are showing the way and are now transforming the transport system quickly and efficiently. When will other Cities catch up?
Backing in Germany
In a joint resolution, the ministers of transport of the federal states call on Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing to implement the reform of the Road Traffic Act and Road Traffic Regulations agreed upon in the coalition agreement of the government.
About the Kidical Mass Action Alliance: The Kidical Mass is a worldwide movement which Germany joined in 2017. In colourful bicycle demonstrations, cyclists between the ages of 0 to 99 conquer the streets. The Kidical Mass campaigns for child- and bicycle-friendly cities and communities. At the heart of the action alliance are more than 400 local organisations and initiatives. A unique network – decentralised, self-organised and strong together. It is supported by supra-regional partners: ADFC, Campact, Changing Cities, Clean Cities Campaign, Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk, Greenpeace, Parents For Future, Pro Velo Schweiz, VCD and Zukunft Fahrrad.
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Hashtags: #KidicalMass #StreetsForAll #StreetsForKids
All action locations and info here: https://kidsonbike.org/
For further information, interview requests and pictures:
Contact/Press
Kidical Mass Action Alliance
Karen Rike Greiderer – Press spokesperson
+49 176 61208831
Quotations from the organisations of the Kidical Mass action alliance:
ADFC Federal Chair Rebecca Peters says: “Whether in big cities or in the countryside: more and more people are cycling in their everyday lives, as surveys like the ADFC Bicycle Climate Test show. But: the cycling conditions in German cities and municipalities are often still unsatisfactory. In order for everyone, including children, young people and senior citizens, to be able to cycle safely and independently, we need modern road traffic laws and continuous cycle path networks. We therefore call on Transport Minister Wissing to modernise the Road Traffic Act and put road safety, climate protection and quality of life at the top of the agenda – so that cycling feels like being at a Kidical Mass every day.”
Annika Liebert, Campact: “We must also consider the needs of the smallest road users in a serious traffic turnaround. Transport Minister Volker Wissing’s blinkered view of motorways is not getting us anywhere – on the contrary, we are treading water. With thousands of cycling children and adults all over Germany, we will show Wissing at the Kidical Mass what a real traffic turnaround looks like.”
Ragnhild Sørensen, Changing Cities: “Every day children are injured on the roads. Not because they are careless, but because their safety is not prioritised. Instead, the Road Traffic Act and the Highway Code are about the fluidity and ease of motorised traffic. With the Kidical Masses, we show what fluidity and ease of child mobility can look like: Safe, communal and fun. The positive side effect: safe routes for children are safe routes for everyone.”
Barbara Stoll, Director, Clean Cities Campaign: “Around 1200 European children lose their lives due to breathing toxic air every year, in addition to the more than 500 whose lives are lost in traffic accidents. These are dreadful statistics and city leaders and governments must do more to protect them. School streets create healthier and safer environments outside the school gates and help encourage parents to think twice before driving their kids to school and instead consider healthier and cleaner options; such as cycling, walking and public transport. Governments need to take immediate action to create streets for kids across Europe.”
The Federal Director of the German Children’s Fund, Holger Hofmann, emphasises: “We finally need a holistic development of cities and communities in which children and young people also feel comfortable. Therefore, we should move towards enabling the young generation to participate continuously, comprehensively and from as early as possible in the field of urban and transport planning. For this, we need a changed traffic policy to ensure more safety for children in road traffic. Children who move independently in road traffic and cycle to school, for example, actively perceive their surroundings. They learn to orientate themselves well and to take care of themselves. This strengthens their self-confidence – also for other life situations. Therefore, we demand a transport policy that is orientated towards the needs of children and young people and a real mobility turnaround.”
Kerstin Haarmann, VCD national chairwoman: “Speeding cars and poor infrastructure are the reason why parents prefer to chauffeur their children around in their cars instead of getting on their bikes with them – and that means something is going seriously wrong with transport policy. With Kidical Mass, we get kids moving and call on politicians to create safe framework conditions and make our roads fit for the future.”
Markus Burbach, Parents for Future Germany (press team): “The mobility shift towards a transport system that emits as little CO2 as possible is an essential part of a climate protection policy that wants to stop the earth from heating up by a further 1.5 degrees. An essential cornerstone of this is the expansion of the bicycle infrastructure and fear-free movement on our roads for all people. Children in particular, those just starting out on the roads, need safe routes. The same applies to the transport sector: climate policy must be generation-friendly.”
Elena Laidler-Zettelmeyer, Zukunft Fahrrad: “The foundation of our mobility behaviour is laid in childhood. If children can move safely and freely on a bicycle on public streets, they will also appreciate the numerous advantages of the bicycle in their everyday life as adults. The Kidical Mass gives children the opportunity to experience real freedom and autonomy on a bike. Because in reality, these are limited by a lack of infrastructure and excessive car traffic. The demonstration sends a clear signal to the political leaders: we are asking you to create enough space for children to cycle safely in everyday life.”
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