The cyclist named Paul – according to the Paris en Selle association which described him on Wednesday on This afternoon, “after a dispute with the driver of a vehicle”, the Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP, confirming information from the Actu17 site.
The driver, aged 52, was arrested at the scene. His teenage daughter, born in 2007, was in the vehicle, an SUV according to several media.
Witnesses at the scene “perceived a voluntary attitude on the part of the driver when the car moved towards the cyclist”, the same source said.
A murder investigation was entrusted to the 1st judicial police district.
“Unacceptable”
A gathering is planned for Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m., Place de la Madeleine, to pay tribute to the victim, “involved for many years” in the Paris en Selle association, created in April 2015 to “promote and develop the use of bicycles in the territory of the Greater Paris metropolis. Two other associations, Mieux moving à Bicyclette and the Vélo Ile-de-France collective, are also joining the call.
The accident sparked strong reactions from elected officials in the capital, where “soft mobility”, particularly bicycles, have taken an increasingly prominent place in recent years.
“It is unacceptable to die today in Paris, at the age of 27, while cycling. These acts must be severely condemned. I express my sincere condolences and provide my support and that of Paris to his family and loved ones “, declared to AFP the PS mayor of the capital Anne Hidalgo.
Elected mayor in 2014, then re-elected in 2020, Ms. Hidalgo made the development of bicycle traffic one of the main axes of her policy. “In ten years, we have developed the equivalent of a Paris-Bordeaux”, or some 500 km of cycle paths, Ms. Hidalgo said before the summer in the weekly Le Nouvel Obs.
In inner Paris, the bicycle has overtaken the car as a means of transport, now ranking behind walking and public transport.
But these arrangements are far from unanimous. “We discover one morning that we have a cycle path at the bottom of our house!”, criticized opponent Rachida Dati in 2020, asking for more consultation with district mayors.
“Massive Vehicles”
By encouraging Parisians to take the bike to avoid the promiscuity of the metro, the Covid health crisis has also given a boost to “soft mobility”, creating tensions. Cyclists are regularly accused of not always respecting the highway code.
After Tuesday’s accident, communist senator Ian Brossat insisted on the need to further regulate the use of SUVs.
“For several years now, experts and road safety associations have been warning of the increased risks linked to the circulation of these massive vehicles, originally designed for off-road use. In urban areas, their presence represents a danger for pedestrians, cyclists, and even for other drivers,” he said in a press release.
This drama illustrates once again the increasingly delicate cohabitation in the capital between these various forms of mobility.
In mid-August, a driver driving in the wrong direction in the center of Paris hit two pedestrians, a cyclist and a person on a scooter, after refusing to comply.
In 2023, 226 cyclists died on the roads of France, exceeding the threshold of 200 deaths for the third year in a row.
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