“Less speed, more tenderness”, “Walk or ride a bike, on quiet streets”, “Stop motorized violence”or even “Police, don’t let us down”: Several hundred people demonstrated in Paris on Saturday, October 19, to demand an end to “motorized violence”just days after the death of a 27-year-old cyclist in the capital.
The demonstration took place in the Place de la République, in the center of Paris. The participants, many of whom arrived by bicycle, called for measures to pacify coexistence between cyclists and motorists. “At some point you have to calm down, the path belongs to everyone and no one”Véronique, who did not want to specify her last name, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “It could have been me. “A car is a weapon”was outraged by this thirty-year-old who travels around Paris every day on an electric bicycle for her concierge business: La Fille à vélo.
“Motorized violence kills. “We want public authorities to really deal with the issue.”demanded Anne Monmarché, president of Paris en selle, an association that has a thousand members and works to improve cycling conditions. “We must protect the most vulnerable. “Paul is no longer here, but we are here.”she added at the end of her speech, very moved.
minute of silence
Anne Monmarché will be part of a delegation that will be received on Monday afternoon by the Minister of Transport, François Durovray. “The idea is to listen with respect to the proposals of the associative actors that represent cyclists, to build future policies together”his office informed Agence France-Presse.
Paul Varry, 27, an active member of the Paris en Saddle association, died on Tuesday on public roads, hit by a motorist with whom he had just had a dispute, on Boulevard Malesherbes, at 8.my district of Paris. The driver, a 52-year-old technical salesman, was charged with murder and jailed.
Protesters in Paris observed a minute of silence at 5:45 p.m., the time when the tragedy unfolded, followed by a very long applause.
At the same time, rallies were also held in front of the town halls of many other cities in France, at the request of the French Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB) and the Better Traveling by Bicycle association.
In Nantes, about 300 people took part in the minute of silence in front of the town hall. “It is a murder for the body. We talked about it today, fortunately, but because it was in the middle of Paris. In the countryside, for example, there are many facts that remain invisible”lamented Arthur Desmidt, 29, with a helmet on his head.
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“We must stop considering the car as an extension of ourselves and overvalue it on a daily basis”pleaded Barbara Delattre, a high school teacher and member of the Nice à Vélo association, a city where nearly a hundred people observed a minute of silence in tribute to Paul Varry. In 2023, 226 cyclists died on French roads, exceeding the 200 death threshold for the third consecutive year.
