Example of good practice in Austria and suggestions (for the benefit of organisers) for standardisation in the RS.
Cycling clubs in the Republic of Slovenia, as well as the Cycling Federation itself, organise several hundred different cycling events on differently categorised roads in the RS. Individual organisers obtain the relevant permits for these events from the Administrative Units, road managers, municipal companies, local authorities, private owners, produce mostly very expensive studies, obtain consents from health centres and hospitals, consents from police stations or police administrations, and when all this is gathered after about two months, an oral hearing follows. Here again, the organiser orally explains what he intends to do, what the plans are, where and how many policemen will be involved, what they can and cannot do, how they have to be marked, what the volume of the sound devices will be, where the toilets will be, whether there will be a breach of public order and how many participants and how many spectators there will be, who is the responsible person and who is responsible for the other areas, with their statements that everything will be as it will be stated in the decision of the Administrative Unit. In addition, the police work order, the order for the utility company, the health centre and so on must be attached. Many organisers get around this and hold the event without registering with the UE and without all the force plans, according to the rule where there is no plaintiff there is no judge.
An example of good practice and work for similar events from neighbouring Austria is the following: the organiser of a cycling marathon or mass cycling event (from 300 to 2000 participants or more) registers the event with the Bezirkshauptmannshaft in the district if the event is only in the area of one district, or with the Landeshauptmannshaft if the event is in the area of two or more "Bezirks". The organiser shall fill in a form indicating the organiser, the place and time of the event, the location and a remark that the event will be held in accordance with the rules of the road. In short, observe the CCP. The official accepts the application and informs the police about the event and issues a decision that the event is registered. In all marathons and other mass events in Austria, the organiser registers the participants and provides them with bib numbers, in recent years also with chips, and times them all, and then produces the results and makes them public, even if they are not races. The events are held on the road, with traffic wardens at roundabouts to direct cyclists in the right direction. The organiser's car is usually at the head of the group or start with a yellow light. Smaller groups are then accompanied by motorcyclists or nobody. Each rider rides alone as much as he or she can. There are no traffic wardens at junctions and roundabouts because they have no powers except to point the direction of travel. In recent years these have been replaced by direction signs. Painting arrows on the asphalt is forbidden from an ecological point of view, as is dumping water bottles. So the OFFICER accepts the report and writes the act and informs the police about the event himself. In the case of a bicycle race, the procedure is similar. The organiser of the event applies to the same address and describes the route, where it will take place, from when to when and which parts of the route he considers necessary to close to all traffic at certain times. It shall also indicate at which roundabouts and junctions it expects police protection and a timetable of which parts of the race course are to be closed to all traffic. It shall also indicate where the parking areas for the support vehicles and everything that goes with the race (finishing stage, sound system, ambulance, race office, showers, toilets, etc.) will be located. The official then informs the police, who are briefed on the race and the specifics of the race, and on this basis draw up a race security plan. The race is usually secured by 6 to 10 motorcyclists and one vehicle with a large blue sign on the roof reading "bike race". The police pass on their plan to the organiser so that he knows where no policemen or firemen are needed and where sections of the course will be completely closed for a short period of time (something minimal until the main body of cyclists has passed). The police provide the organiser with all the help and support in the organisation of the race, especially in the part of the course where there are so-called critical points, dangerous descents, or obscure, dangerous corners (the so-called "critical points"). The police officers on the motorcycles also work very cooperatively with the moto commissioners and help and coordinate with each other in the security. Again, the official issues a decision to the organiser, stating what kind of race it is, the police station and the municipality that will put up traffic signals on the race route. The official shall also inform all the stakeholders himself of their work and responsibilities at the race. The work of the police officer is paid by the organiser, whether in a roundabout, on a motorbike or in a private vehicle, at 14 Euros per hour. This is the net time spent working at the race. All others at the race work during regular or special hours and are not paid. The Road Manager is only informed of the event. Things are different in the RS. The big races (Tour of Slovenia, ZG-NM and others) are usually not a problem. Smaller, usually circuit races in a smaller local area are not, nor are mountain climbs. Although this is where I have the most disagreement with the UE. There are even more different interpretations of mass cycling events. One is mass races, the other is mass recreational marathons. For the sake of indiscriminate control, participants are registered with start numbers or chips and thus in the eyes of the police a recreational ride becomes a race. The chips and the recording of the time of each participant is not a race, it is simply and only the measured and publicly published time of the individual. And a recreational marathon with 1000 or more participants cannot take place on normally too narrow cycle lanes where the participants are or be required by the organiser to ride one behind the other at a reasonable safety distance. Even if participants are not registered, they cannot ride in a large group on a cycle lane.
To simplify the work of all UEs and police in Slovenia, I suggest the following:
- Working meeting: 1. of the Ministry of Public Administration, 2. of the representative of the ACS (President, Gen. Sec. of the ACS ), 3. after oral presentation and explanation, to invite to the discussion the other actors who are legally bound in issuing the consent, where it is necessary to elaborate and propose in detail;
- Immediate change of legislation to exclude the DRCS and the need for expensive studies from the decision-making process on race routes, even if the race takes place on national roads. The DRCS requires the organiser to specify the route to the mm, the marshals, an assurance that the police will be present at the race and some other nonsense that should be included in the application to the UE.
- Change the part of the legislation where mass cycling events on the road, such as marathons of up to 150 km or more, regardless of whether or not the participants are timed, are only allowed to ride on the roadway, behind the organiser's vehicle, either a car or a moto commissaire.
- Change the law to allow crowds of cyclists at an event to ride on the roadway in parallel columns if the speed is more than 25km/h, without a car or moto escort (the problem of the so-called Dolska and other rounds).
- Draw up a single instruction for all UEs in the RS on uniform practice, where it is the UE itself that should obtain the relevant opinions of other administrative bodies and institutions ex officio. - Amend the part of the legislation where the organiser will be allowed to organise the event himself after prior notification to the UE and then also to carry out the event by his own actions, in compliance with the CPP, on the routes of local roads in uninhabited environments, where usually local residents participate and help in the organisation of the event. (Allow or relax the current existing legislation which prescribes the organisation of cycling events on the road.)
- Amend the part of the legislation that prescribes a "mobile closure" of up to 30 min. for all mountain and road rides so that the DRSC does not require the provision of police work and diversion plans for mountain or road races that cannot be carried out in the local environment, and the organiser can safely carry out the event itself, together with the local population, in the event of an expected small turnout (up to 150 participants).
- Amend part of the legislation to clearly define the role of the marshals, including the role of the flying marshals, or to change it so that marshals are not needed in a "mobile roadblock".
I may have left something important out (see point 3 where the relevant explanations will be given). What should remain unquestionable is the reassurance of all organisers that all stakeholders in the event want to see the event held safely. This will be the case if the participants take care of themselves and follow the CPP. The more instructions, prescriptions and what and how, the less well it is implemented in practice. The worst is surely that the most responsible officials do not yet distinguish between what is a race and what is a recreational ride and do not understand what it means to take several cyclists on a cycling excursion in compliance with the CPP. E.g. In Austria, detected and documented CPP infringements are dealt with immediately at the scene of the offence, while more serious infringements are dealt with individually in civil litigation. And it would be highly desirable for UE staff to have at least a passing familiarity with the cycling events that take place on the road and to see and discuss with the organisers the specifics of each event, both here and in nearby Austria. The fact is that once a law is passed, it must be respected and obeyed. The current legislation may be good, but what is certain is that it is far too broad, unviable and has been adopted to the detriment of cycling organisers and all those who have been working all these years to make cycling sport even more widespread, the bicycle even more of a means of transport over shorter distances, and cycling events the driving force behind the development of cycling as a healthy lifestyle and, ultimately, the driving force behind cycling tourism.
Yours sincerely.
The proposed text was brought to the attention of all the members of the Mass Committee at the fifth meeting of the meeting, at which time Gen.sec. The President of the ACS was also informed.