Part 1 : The legal Situation on Bremen’s Streets

Public space is always a scarce commodity in cities that have grown over time without central planning.  Ever more, and ever bigger, vehicles are competing for the same amount of space.  At the same time,  private automobiles are continuing to push other modes of transport out of this public space.  Currently, political as well as legal resistance to this situation is growing, supported by environmental organisations such as BUND, NABU, citizens‘ and neighbourhood initiatives, and transport organisations such as ADFC, VCD; Fuss e.V., Forum for Transportation Transformation („Forum Verkehrswende“), Autofreier Stadttraum („Auto Free City Space/City Dreams“) and Coalition for Transportation Transformation (“Bündnis Verkehrswende“).  In addition, many citizens have filed suit against the city-state for its lack of action against vehicles parked illegally on sidewalks.  This problem is further complicated by electric scooters parked on sidewalks  In the summer of 2020, a visually impaired man was seriously injured in Bremen when he tripped over an electric scooter. He has  filed suit against the city-state for not protecting him from injury.