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Photo: Lino Mirgeler / dpa

Andreas Mandalka made it his mission on social media to point out dangerous overtaking maneuvers by cars for cyclists - now he has died in a traffic accident. This is reported by, among others, the “Badische Latest Nachrichten”.

The 43-year-old was cycling on a country road in Baden-Württemberg on Tuesday evening, according to a police report that refers to the accident. When asked by SPIEGEL, a spokesman did not want to confirm that it was Mandalka. According to the investigation, a Citroën was driving behind him. For reasons that are still unclear, the 77-year-old car driver then collided with Mandalka.

Mandalka suffered serious injuries as a result of the accident and died at the scene despite resuscitation measures, it is said. An expert was called in to reconstruct the course of the accident.

“It is with sadness that we say goodbye to our dear companion, whom everyone knew under the name Natenom,” says an obituary from the ADFC-Pforzheim Enzkreis and members of “Critical Mass.” Mandalka posted on social media under the name. »Natenom has been campaigning for the cause of cyclists for years«.

On the Mastodon platform, for example, Mandalka reported dangerous overtaking maneuvers. He filmed dangerous situations and sometimes reported them to the police, as the ADFC Baden-Württemberg writes. He used a special sensor to measure the distance to overtaking vehicles. As he said in an interview with the ADFC, there are drivers who deliberately overtake at a short distance, "sometimes only one meter, in extreme cases only half a meter." If you fall below the minimum distance of two meters when overtaking outside of town, you actually face a fine.

“Zeit Online” asked Mandalka in 2019 what he would hope to achieve by filming the maneuvers and publishing them on the Internet. »I often watch videos of other cyclists and learn from them. For example, that you shouldn’t drive too close to parked cars,” said Mandalka. The door could open at any time. »Maybe someone can learn something from my videos.« However, there is another reason: "When I tell you what happened to me, people often don't believe me."

He called for safe infrastructure and protected cycle paths that are separated from the road. “Because the renovation is taking time, it is important that the police take cases like mine seriously and carry out distance checks.” This also requires awareness campaigns. Many people simply don't know it or can't appreciate it.

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