Saturday October 19, 2024, several hundred tributes were paid throughout France to Paul Varry, cyclist killed by a motorist in Paris. The victim’s relatives are still bruised.
Tributes multiplied this Saturday across France, and in particular in all the main cities of Occitanie, after the death of a 27-year-old cyclist, Paul Varry, killed by a motorist on Tuesday in Paris. This 57-year-old man was indicted for murder on Friday and placed in pre-trial detention.
“Intimidation, insults, accidents”
Several bicycle defense associations called for rallies in around a hundred municipalities at the end of the afternoon in front of town halls. More than 300 people gathered on the square in front of Montpellier City Hall this Saturday.
“Motorized violence is too trivialized by public authorities, we can no longer tolerate it. The safety of pedestrians and cyclists is a fundamental right, it is neither an option nor a subject for debate.”
La Roue libre de Thau organized a gathering at the town hall square in Sète. The volunteers, joined by anonymous people, reminded us of the danger of cycling in public spaces. “The community of cyclists and pedestrians suffers from motorized violence on a daily basis: intimidation, insults, accidents”explains the collective, which calls for “bold policies and concrete measures”including in Sète, where according to her, “the soft mobility policy does not guarantee the safety of users”.
“It’s savagery”
Paul Varry’s mother and brother reacted this Saturday still on M6 et RTL. “Tuesday evening, my life turned upside down, I lost my son. It’s a tragedy in our family. How are we going to live with this? What will our taste for living be? It’s just horrible , because of a guy. Paul was alive. If that guy hadn’t been there, Paul, my son, would be alive.
The victim’s brother also spoke: “It’s a murder, there are no other words. In the morgue, we saw Paul. There are no words… It’s barbarity. We can’t say that it “It’s an accident, it’s not possible.” “It’s savagery”added the victim’s mother.
“I am not a murderer”defended the motorist in police custody, according to BFMTV. He allegedly accused the cyclist of behaving aggressively. He would then have accelerated.
According to testimonies, the driver of the car was traveling on the cycle path. “He would have rolled over the cyclist’s foot,” reported the prosecution. Paul Varry then allegedly hit the hood and, in anger, positioned himself in front of the car. It was then that the motorist, “in stress”said his lawyer, would have rolled over the young man.
A colleague of Paul Varry, a cyclist like him, reported to Le Figaro that he had seen the motorist a few seconds earlier, at the wheel of his SUV, cut him off to get onto the cycle path “like crazy”.
