After Alexander Bonde, Minister for Rural Areas and Consumer Protection in Baden-Württemberg, presented a so-called "mountain bike handbook", in which the possibilities of where and how narrow paths in Baden-Württemberg can be opened up for cyclists in exceptional cases are to be made known, the MTB lobby reacted with incomprehension. The Deutsche Initiative Mountainbike e.V. (DIMB), which collected almost 60,000 signatures against the 2-meter rule at the end of 2103, sees numerous inconsistencies in the book. The DIMB is now receiving a boost from a study by the University of Freiburg.

Professor Dr. Ulrich Schraml from the University of Freiburg has just presented a study report based on a survey of hikers and mountain bikers in the Black Forest - to coincide with the publication of Minister Bonde's "Mountain Bike Handbook". The results show that pedestrians and cyclists generally get along well and that isolated conflicts only occur at certain hotspots. And only at certain times and because there are individual black sheep on both sides.The conclusion to the report on page 21 states accordingly: "(...) the relationship between hikers and mountain bikers, which is currently generally portrayed in the public debate as highly strained, is much more differentiated in the forest. A very strong sense of disturbance among hikers is limited to the smaller part of this group, which is particularly sensitive, or to those hot spots of conflict where unfavorable conditions on site make it difficult for different user groups to meet without conflict. (...) With regard to the controversial 2-meter rule, it became clear that blanket statements about the conflict situation in the Black Forest make little sense."

The conflicts are therefore the exception, and the ban should also be the exception. Specifically: Instead of only allowing a few routes on the basis of the 2-meter rule, after the abolition of the 2-meter rule, some routes should only be closed where it makes sense and is justified, according to the DIMB. Heiko Mittelstädt, spokesperson and coordinator of the DIMB for Baden-Württemberg, commented: "If you then take into account that the survey was conducted between June and August on weekends with good weather for excursions and therefore represents the 'worst case', it becomes even clearer how disproportionate the 2-meter rule is and how little the alternative of individual exceptions is based on the reality of local cyclists."
Furthermore, this study only deals with the Black Forest. However, Baden-Württemberg also has other parts of the state where the density of use tends to be lower than in the Black Forest, as these are not tourist regions with fewer excursion destinations. There are therefore likely to be even fewer conflicts here and therefore even fewer reasons for maintaining the 2-metre rule.