Paris town hall asks the government to ban the circulation of SUVs in the city

The Paris Council has “interpellated” Friday the government to ban the circulation of SUVs in the city, in view of the “dangerousness” of these heavy vehicles, after the death in October in Paris of a cyclist crushed by an SUV driver. The socialist town hall also asks the government to ban “any advertising and marketing operation promoting heavy and bulky SUV-type vehicles”in a wish adopted at the Paris Council chaired by Anne Hidalgo. Tuesday, at the opening of the debates, Parisian elected officials observed a minute of silence in tribute to Paul Varry, a 27-year-old cyclist killed on October 15 by an SUV driver on a cycle path.

“This event highlighted the extent of road violence in Paris”said Senator Ian Brossat, co-president of the communist group at the Council of Paris, who has just tabled a bill in the Senate to allow local elected officials to ban heavy vehicles (1.8 tonnes and more) in city. In his wish, the municipal executive points out “the seriousness of the road violence which occurs every day in the capital”Or “53.5% of trips are made on foot, 30% by public transport, 11.2% by bike and 4.3% by car”.

Accidents involving an SUV “are statistically more often fatal for the vulnerable users they hit”according to the 2023 road safety report which is based on data from a study, still in progress, carried out by the Center for Studies and Expertise on Risks (Cerema). A few days after the death of Paul Varry, the Ministry of Transport set up a four-month mission entitled “against violence, protect all road users”. The Paris Council, for its part, requests that a «table-ronde»with the police headquarters, is looking more specifically at a plan to fight against “motorized violence”.