Visibility triangle in zone 30 and right before left

Hello everyone,

we built 1.5 years ago and already during the construction phase it seems that we stepped on someone's toes without realizing it. There was an anonymous letter basically wishing us trouble and financial damage.

Now the public order office has approached us, they said they received an anonymous report that the visibility triangle at our street corner is not being maintained, and that we have to establish it. They ultimately refer to §31 Lower Saxony Road Act. It states that junctions must be kept free from visibility obstructions. Other regulations and the letter from the city describe how this visibility triangle is to be constructed:

First of all: nothing about a visibility triangle is mentioned in the development plan, purchase contract, or building permit (as I have learned, a visibility triangle does not have to be registered in the development plan even in a 30 km/h zone). From the edge of the road 3m into the subordinate street (in our case a dead-end street, which according to the city is also the subordinate street). On the priority road 30m away from the intersection and connecting these two points. From my point of view, there is a problem with the subordinate and priority road. In our case, it would be the same street, and thus I have no triangle.

We already had an on-site meeting with the public order office, but unfortunately that did not bring any improvement, they continue to insist that we must establish a visibility triangle. The gentleman also mentioned that this would affect our neighbor on the other side of the intersection, although he has not received any letter from the city.

In the attachment, I tried to sketch the situation. The red triangle would be the visibility triangle we have to establish, the blue our 1.8m high fence, the green the situation at the neighbor's.

The question I have is: Is there even a necessity for a visibility triangle in 30 zones with right-before-left? After all, I have to drive at an adjusted speed anyway - it is right before left. Furthermore, I consider 30m to be far too much, at 30km/h I have a stopping distance of 15m - well, but those are the regulations.

I would be very grateful for any advice on how we can get this problem solved.

Best regards

Be.

Hello, what kind of fence do you have? 1.8m is already quite a generous height. Maybe you can upload some photos?
Regards, Daniel

This is one of those wire mesh fences with inserted privacy strips. I don't have a photo handy at the moment.

In the dead-end street, there is no sidewalk and on the other street only on the opposite side of the street, which is at the same level as the street and therefore drivable.

I can at least understand that your fence represents a huge impairment there. There is practically no visibility into the street anymore (despite the right of way, the rule of considerate and anticipatory driving applies, which your fence makes difficult).

For someone who is used to driving there and maybe drives rather uncertainly, that can already be a hurdle. The neighbor is less of a problem, as traffic drives on the right, thus better visibility for those coming from "left."

It probably just turned out badly, and if the legal situation is clear, there is probably no other option than to restore the desired condition (in town there are often these mirrors at poorly visible intersections, but whether they would help here?).

The city probably doesn't like mirrors because they need to be maintained. In the picture, you can see that the property at the corner already has a corner taken off by the city. The long side of the property at the corner is 5m. The neighbor basically has the same problem. He lets a hedge grow there, and traffic from the dead-end street cannot see into the priority road. I just believe (and some of my neighbors do too) that you have to drive slowly there.

Short and sweet, as soon as any authority is involved in the matter, along with a neighbor's complaint, it's game over even if you manage to settle with the snitch, the building authority will continue. It was similar with my parents. After several delays, a letter eventually came saying "Do it by date x or face a hefty fine." Period.