A law aimed at improving safety on sidewalks of Slovakia, setting a maximum speed limit for all those using the sidewalks, including pedestrians, has provoked derision and anger among part of the population against the government, which is accused of restricting freedoms.

“With a maximum speed limit of 6km/h, it is difficult to maintain one’s balance, even 3 and 4-year-old children regularly exceed” that speed limit on their bicycles, Dan Kolar, president of Cyklokoalicia, an organisation that supports soft mobility, told Agence France-Presse.

The bill, approved by the Slovak parliament in late October and due to come into force on 1 January 2026, aims to limit the speed of those using the pavements, from pedestrians to cyclists and scooter drivers. Offenders will face a fine of €100.

However, the proposed 6km/h speed limit has drawn derision from a section of society with many making social media posts with doctored images of a radar flashing warning a pedestrian walking at 6.2km/h telling them to “slow down” or a fake “permission to walk”.

“Kids will be breaking the law every day”

The government is creating a situation in which “kids will break the law every day and we will teach them that this is acceptable,” said Colar, calling the legislation “absurd.”

Another civic organization called Concerned Mothers asked President Robert Fitzo not to sign and ratify the law.

Last year, 67 pedestrians and 22 cyclists or scooter riders died in accidents in Slovakia, according to police figures, which, however, do not record whether those accidents occurred on sidewalks or roads.