Even before you hit the roads and pavements of Berlin with your two wheels, you ought to ensure your steel (stolen?) steed is "fahrbereit", ie legally roadworthy. For this you need the following:
- a bell
- lights front and rear powered by a dynamo
...otherwise you're in breach of traffic laws. I don't think any copper is going to throw the book at you for having battery lights instead of dynamo ones, and possibly most won't even know about this legal nicety. Still, now you know.
Once you're on the roads, you have to cycle in the same direction as the traffic unless you're riding through a contra-flow thingy.
Keep to the cycle side of any split cycle/pedestrian paths, which are very common here. This is where your little ding-a-ling is absolutely invaluable: a quick ring and the errant wanderer sharply jumps out of your rightful path. They are wrong, and you are right.
As any one who can't fly/hover/isn't carried about in a sedan chair will tell you, cycling on pavements is very common here. Technically only allowed if traffic makes it dangerous to cycle on the road, two-wheelers torpedo amongst pedestrians like sharks in a shoal. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
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