The Cyclists' Association wants their bicycles to be taken on the metro for free, and that certain cars be forced to keep at least one and a half meters away from them.
A distance requirement for self-driving cars, when it comes to self-driving cars, is not only impossible but impossible to enforce. That is what FDM believes.
Nevertheless, the Danish Cyclists' Association wants a distance requirement of one and a half meters to be made law, the organization writes in a press release .
"Self-driving cars must be programmed to comply with traffic rules. For safety reasons, we believe that one of the requirements should be that they maintain a distance of at least 1.5 meters from cyclists," says Kenneth Øhrberg Krag, director of the Danish Cyclists' Association.
The Danish Cyclists' Association does not take the position that self-driving cars do not exist. There are cars with self-driving capabilities on a scale from level 1 to 5.
Here in Denmark, the highest level currently allowed is 3. Or what is called 'conditional self-driving capabilities'. Here, the cars can take over control if a number of conditions are fully met.
Ford is the latest brand to activate the 'self-driving' system 'Bluecruise' on selected motorway sections in Denmark. However, the brand's system does not change lanes or function at junctions.
But some car brands are actually further along. In order to experiment with even more autonomy in the crosswalk, Mercedes, for example, has promised to take responsibility for traffic accidents. Read more about it here .
As it is now, it is up to the individual driver to assess what is a 'safe' distance when overtaking a cyclist, writes the Danish Cyclists' Association.
– It is up to the driver's judgment, but many cyclists on the road have experienced being overtaken far too closely.
– If a truck overtakes you at close range, it can be downright dangerous due to the air pressure.
– So we are in favor of the requirement of at least one and a half meters of distance applying to everyone, but it is extra important in relation to self-driving cars, where there is no human driver at all who can assess the situation, says Kenneth Øhrberg Krag.