Share the post "Press Release: Stop violence on the roads!"
Press release from the French Cycling Tourism Federation, and 12 other organizations.
The French Cycling Tourism Federation (FFCT), the Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB), in association with 11 other organizations, are publishing their proposals aimed at combating road violence. This unified approach is still awaiting a response from the Government.
Six months after the murder of Paul Varry, the Government is preparing to receive the report it commissioned from Emmanuel Barbe as part of the mission “against violence, protecting all road users”. This report is expected to propose concrete solutions to combat road violence and create a safer environment for all journeys.
The French Cycling Tourism Federation, the FUB, and 11 other organizations are uniting their voices to submit 10 effective and pragmatic proposals to the Government to change behaviors and create infrastructure to ensure the safety of all.
CHANGE BEHAVIORS, CHANGE INFRASTRUCTURE 10 proposals to change behaviors 1. Assess the extent of road violence to better address it by having annual statistical monitoring of these acts of violence, evaluating their judicial treatment, and organizing prevention campaigns specifically targeting excessive speed and dangerous behaviors. 2. Improve the collection of complaints, their judicial processing, and the criminal response by providing more training to the national police, gendarmerie, and municipal police on the rights of cyclists and the reality of their practice. 3. Better prevent, prosecute, and sanction violent behaviors on roads by making automated control of infractions possible, within a framework that avoids any abusive use, for non-compliance with bike boxes, circulation on cycling facilities, and non-compliance with safety distances, especially when overtaking. 4. More systematically resort to immediate administrative sanctions against perpetrators of road violence such as vehicle impoundment or temporary suspension of driving licenses, while ensuring rapid integration of these individuals into a mobility support program to compensate for the loss of the vehicle. 5. Improve the behaviors of all road users, private and professional, through training at all ages, relying notably on the role of employers and vocational training centers, and reinforcing the role of organizations providing advice and learning for cycling and sustainable mobility. 6. Train a prudent and respectful generation on the roads by generalizing and improving the “Savoir rouler à vélo” (Knowing how to cycle) program, by integrating a cycling training module in middle and high school, and by adding a cycling module to driving license training. 7. Promote cohabitation among road users by generalizing 30km/h in urban areas, by mandating the complete crossing of lines, including solid lines, for any overtaking of a bicycle on roads outside urban areas, and by promoting lower speeds and the use of secure secondary roads for cyclists. 8. Secure cycling trips outside urban areas by strengthening the obligations of road managers through the alignment of the provisions of article L.228-3 of the Environmental Code with those of L.228-2 and the suppression of the mandatory prior evaluation. 9. Draw up a list of road and cycling infrastructure configurations to be prohibited based on a retrospective evaluation of the impact on accident rates of cycling facilities implemented in France and make the recommendations formulated by Cerema binding in certain circumstances. 10. Combat accident rates linked to blind spots of large vehicles by extending, through regulation, the provisions of European Directive 2019/2144 to vehicles put into circulation before July 2022 and by proposing aid for retrofitting. |
The increase in the number of cyclists and the diversification of cycling practices, whether daily, sporting, leisure, or professional, require collective acceptance of road sharing and a commensurate response from public authorities.
This collective initiative is a continuation of the work carried out by these organizations to inform the mission through a detailed report based on thousands of testimonies and feedback from our network of associations and clubs. It demonstrates a common commitment to respond to the majority aspiration of French people to be able to cycle safely and in a peaceful environment.
These proposals were the subject of a collective letter sent to the Minister of Transport on March 26. While awaiting a response from the Government, the offer to hold a meeting to continue the discussions initiated on October 21 with the previous Government remains open.
Share the post "Press Release: Stop violence on the roads!"
