226 people riding bicycles lost their lives on the roads of France in 2023. A figure exceeding the threshold of 200 deaths for the third year in a row. And a new tragedy is added to the long list of cyclist deaths. Afterwards, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office, « a dispute with the driver » from an SUV, a 27-year-old man named Paul was crushed to death by the vehicle. The disaster happened while Paul was riding his bike late in the afternoon, Tuesday October 15, on Boulevard Malesherbes in Paris (Île-de-France). The 52-year-old driver was arrested at the scene. A murder investigation was entrusted to the 1st judicial police district.
The Paris en Selle cycling association described Paul as an “active member” on X (formerly Twitter). The daughter of the driver who was arrested, a teenager, was on board the vehicle, according to the media Actu 17. The witnesses at the scene would have “perceived a voluntary attitude of the driver during the movement of the car towards the cyclist”, indicated Agence France-Presse, based on elements reported by various media.
Paul “fought so that we could cycle safely”
To pay tribute to the victim, around 200 people gathered on Wednesday evening at Place de la Madeleine. Flowers and candles were placed in front of the Madeleine church. The president of Paris en saddle, the association behind this gathering, Anne Monarché, very moved, praised the memory of Paul, who “fought for a peaceful city, so that we could cycle safely”.
Two other associations, Better Moving to Bicyclette and the Vélo Île-de-France collective, also joined the call. “He is no longer here to defend this vision, but we are here to continue and I am counting on you, I am counting on us so that this motorized violence disappears”launched the president of the association.
“Like any cyclist, it’s a bit of a shock, we are often attacked in Paris by motorists (…) and when we get to the point of running over someone, we reach a level of indecency, which goes a little beyond the limit. reality of the situation »testified to AFP Fanny Lebizay, 31, saleswoman.
“It’s a real crime which probably emerges from an ambient, recurring discourse against cycling”agrees Denis Mirallier, a 59-year-old landscape engineer, living near Annecy. “Regularly, I take the bike or the bus and I hear that bikes are a nuisance on the road and that some (motorists) say: “The next time I see one, I’m going to shoot it“», he continued.
SUVs represent “a danger to pedestrians, cyclists, and even other drivers”
An indignation shared by communist senator Ian Brossat, who insists on the need to further regulate the use of SUVs: “In urban areas, their presence represents a danger for pedestrians, cyclists, and even for other drivers”. The deputy mayor of Paris in charge of Transport, David Belliard, called on BFMTV to “reduce the space of the car again, again and again”.
The accident sparked strong reactions from elected officials in the capital, where soft mobility, in particular bicycles, has 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”declared to AFP the PS mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, who has made the development of bicycle traffic one of the main axes of her policy.
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