Enraged landowners and reckless mountainbikers? Conflict perceptions and liability questions in Bavaria

The outdoor sport Mountainbiking has gained great popularity over recent years. Using the already existing infrastructure, initially created for hiking, the access of private land creates a social conflict between mountainbikers and landowners. The situation has drastically worsened over time as the mountainbike community is growing and landowners fear liability in case of accidents. The objective of this study is to examine the role of these liability issues for the current situation in Bavaria.Ten experts are interviewed in order to assess the actual reasons for the conflict, the perception of the legal framework and possible solution approaches. The experts belong to the stakeholder groups of mountainbiking, landowners, mediating bodies, municipalities and insurance providers. The data collected is analysed using qualitative content analysis.The results reveal the encroachment on the property, the legal framework, the rapid development of the sport and the behavior of mountainbikers as main reasons. Therefore liability issues do not play the predominant role in the conflict, but are one driver among others. Other legal concerns exist on the suitability of trails and illegal trail building. Even though only few decisions have been taken to court and even fewer held landowners liable for the past 25 years, the concerns have to be taken into consideration when approaching conflict resolution. Education and communication between the two sides should be prioritized in this social value conflict. Other effective possibilites include channeling the sport by attractive infrastructure, the transfer of liabilities to clubs or municipalities, financial compensation and statewide coverage through the government. The current situation calls for prompt action from involved stakeholders to meet the challenges of the fast evolving sport mountainbiking and an overall outdoor trend.