Split is a great place to cycle, but be sure to know the rules…
A nice bike ride to the city centre or to a shop is a daily ritual performed by an ever increasing number of citizens of Split, particularly now since the city authorities have at least somewhat improved the cycling infrastructure. Split is an ideal city for cycling and hopefully there will be more and more cycling path on its streets. However, until that happens, cyclists will be forced to use the roads or pedestrian areas where they are not allowed, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on January 4, 2016.
Split Police Department decided to send a message to all cyclists when during recent control Josip Glavinović was caught riding a bike in a zone intended for pedestrians. “The police officers stopped me at the beginning of Matošića Street and warned me that I should not ride my bike due to that street being part of a pedestrian zone. Fortunately, I have all the required equipment on my bike, including a bell and a light, so I got a warning just for riding in a pedestrian zone”, Glavinović said.
According to law, a pedestrian zone is considered as an area primarily intended for pedestrians, without any vehicles allowed. In such areas, cyclists should get off their bicycles and push them along while walking.
Since Glavinović received a warning, if he is again caught for the same offence, he will have to pay a 500 kuna fine. “I am a cyclist fan and I regularly go to Marjan. I love mountain biking, so the Marjan Nature Park is a perfect oasis for me where I often go. But, I somehow need to get there and then I have to return home, which usually means riding through the city. With such strict controls, cyclists will either be riding on the roads or we will have to go through the Marjan tunnel, which would be extremely dangerous”, Glavinović said and added that the problem are not the fines, but the fact that majority of cyclists in the city centre ride their bikes very slowly, about 5 kilometres per hour.
Pedestrian zones in the city centre are often full of vehicles which do not belong there. The most common means of transport are motorcycles which can be regularly seen in areas where they are officially forbidden. With the increasing number of tourists during the summer months, in pedestrian areas you can often also see rickshaws, electrical golf carts and Segways which usually move in groups, but police controls do not appear to do anything against them.
One thing is certain: if motor vehicles were to be removed from the city centre and if more bicycle paths were to be built, then pedestrians would be a lot safer than they are now.
