One attendant is wearing a fluorescent vest with the words "1 meter" and two arrows, to encourage motorists to keep their distance. Another is sporting a GoPro camera on his helmet to record everything, because "you never know." A third says he smiles frantically at all cars: "It destabilizes them, they don't dare insult me afterward." At Place de la République in Paris, as in other cities in France, several hundred cyclists gathered on Saturday, October 19, to pay tribute to Paul Varry, who was run over on Tuesday by an SUV driver after an altercation in the west of the capital. Everyone shared their "strategy" to avoid escalation on the road.
Corentin Lack explained his: "A mix between education and direct action." The 22-year-old biotech student tries his best to educate, but when a motorist parked in the middle of the bike path says that "it's just for two minutes," he's tempted to "smack" his rearview mirror. "When I realize that he doesn't even understand that he's putting me in danger, I don't know what to do."
Lack recounted how, a year ago, a taxi cut him off and he flew over the hood. Shortly before, another, parked on the bicycle path the young man was using, got out of his car to "slap" him. Varry's death had a "mirror effect" on him: "It chills me to think that I could have died that day. And even several times." One, two, 10 demonstrators stopped to photograph the "It could have been you, me" written on his sign. From folding bike users to cargo bikers, to work commuters and outdoor racers, everyone had an anecdote about what could have "gone wrong."
Alexandre Loco also had a "near miss" in June. A motorist made a U-turn to drive back toward him and got out of his car. If a girl in blue hadn't interfered, "who knows how it would have ended," Loco insisted that "what happened to Paul isn't an isolated case, it happens every day." So the 33-year-old artistic director, like the others, came to show his support, to join forces to "stick together" and to pay tribute. "But that won't be enough, we need to get things moving now." Sylvie Aebischer nodded in agreement, waving a piece of cardboard at the politicians gathered in front of her. On it, a few "simple" words were inscribed: "SUV ban." "At some point, enough is enough, we need to rethink public space," said the 44-year-old CGT union member working in education.
Road regulation is made for cars only, despaired Nicole Bunel in her orange vest. The 68-year-old retiree explained that she starts pedaling her bike just before the light turns green, "to be safer." A short while ago, she had a scare when "a guy rolled down his window" next to her. A good-natured but "outlandish" conversation ensued: "He just wanted to tell me that he'd like to take his bike too, but that it's too polluted. But wait, who's polluting?"
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