the death of a cyclist nicknamed “the blue man”, hit by a motorist, revives the debate on sharing the road – Libération

Inexhaustible, the “man in blue” was still riding his bicycle at the age of 74. Jean-Marc Chatard, easily recognizable by his work overalls earning him his nickname, died Friday November 8, hit by a car on a departmental road at nightfall, near Limoges. Known in the capital of porcelain and its surroundings for decades, “the man in blue” is rekindling, less than a month after the alleged murder of cyclist Paul Varry in Paris, the anger of users and associations defending the small queen. Especially since the motorist opposite, a 76-year-old man who admitted the facts in police custody, did not stop, claiming to have hit an animal. A preliminary investigation was opened for manslaughter and hit-and-run.

Unlike the driver of an SUV who allegedly deliberately ran over cyclist Paul Varry in Paris last month, in this specific case, “this is not – a priori – not intentional road violence”, notes Olivier Schneider, co-president of the French Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB). The fact remains that for the expert, this accident is the reflection of a «systemic road violence» : “It consists of making it normal to drive fast, to overtake at random, or even to drive when you have obvious vision problems,” he lists.

Because if the motorist claims to have already hit an animal on the same D979 linking Limoges to Eymoutiers, in the east of Haute-Vienne, “why didn’t he check his tires, his bumper, or even what he had just driven over?” asks Olivier Schneider with annoyance, who says to himself “shocked by the hit-and-run”.

The advanced age of the motorist precisely echoes that of an octogenarian, who last June knocked down a group of twelve children riding bicycles in La Rochelle, killing one of them.

Enough to relaunch debates on the need for a compulsory medical examination for the issue or renewal of a driving license – European deputies had rejected a law to this effect in February. “I’m not saying that the problem is only older people,” defuses Valérie Faucheux, deputy to the city of Rennes in charge of mobility and member of the Club of Cyclical Cities and Territories. “But they can have sensory failures. After a stroke last year, my father was allowed to drive, without having been examined!”she takes as an example. Generally speaking, the permit has been issued for many people “before the new regulations and the rise of cycling”, she emphasizes. Thus, many motorists do not know what a bicycle lock is, the two-way cycle path or are unaware of the existence of M12 signs, give way signs reserved for cyclists.

Unbearable hypocrisy

A communication and awareness problem widely singled out by the associations concerned. “Motorists do not have cyclists in their reading grid,” points out Olivier Schneider. The majority of cyclists are killed outside urban areas, like Jean-Marc Chatard. If the Minister of Transport François Durovray announced, after the death of Paul Varry, a mission against violence on the roads, which should normally contain an educational component, the subsequent elimination of the much appreciated Plan Vélo for reasons of austerity budget has thrown a cold. “We must reestablish this Fund to allow communities to continue to develop cycling facilities, even if it means favoring rural areas, where there is almost nothing”claimed Olivier Schneider.

“All of this is unbearably hypocritical,” s’agace l’auteur franco néederlandse Stein Van Oosteren, author de Why not the bike? Want a cycling France (Ecosociety Editions). “Cycling deaths are not accidents, but the result of an “all-car” policy which allowed roads to be created without any protection for vulnerable users. Mechanically, this creates deaths. Jean-Marc Chatard, like many others, paid the price for these political choices. he explains without mincing his words. For him and others, the solution does not lie in sharing the road, but in a “transformation” of the road. By narrowing lanes to accommodate cycle paths or even reducing the maximum speed to 30 km/h across an entire city (a pedestrian has approximately a 90% chance of survival during an impact with a vehicle moving at 30 km/h, this figure drops to 20% at 50 km/h).

Bad signal

After experimenting with 80 km/h, the reestablishment of 90 km/h on certain departmental roads, as is the case on the D979, also sent a message “bad signal” believes Valérie Faucheux, just like Gérald Darmanin’s measure, reconciling with small excesses of speed. “I often hold elected officials accountable by making decisions that I find more than electoral. To think that returning to 90 km/h would guarantee safety is false. she denounces.

Olivier Schneider says: “The conditions for an increase to 90 km/h were the creation of a cycle path next to the road, that was not done”. For lack of an alternative, Jean-Marc Chatard drove to the side of the road. To truly protect cyclists and avoid more tragedies, the solution seems simple according to bicycle advocates: “we must separate them from cars and reduce the speed of car traffic”, concludes Stein Van Oosteren. He cites his native country as proof: in the Netherlands, the cycling infrastructure is such that cyclists do not need to wear a helmet.