The episode in detail
38% more cyclist deaths between 2019 and 2022
Between 2019 and 2022, cyclist deaths in France rose by 38%, against a 20% rise in the number of cyclists in built-up areas and 18% outside them. Deaths are rising faster than the number of people cycling. Yann Foreix, a journalist on the Biclou series (Le Parisien), looks at the causes and the possible solutions for cyclist safety.
Biclou has existed for four years. It was created by Aurélien Viers during the Covid lockdown to keep pace with the rise of cycling. The series films interviews on bikes, meets people working on the ground and takes stock of the situation without painting it in black and white. Yann makes one thing clear from the start: Biclou is not anti-car, and he owns one himself.
“You don’t change things by snapping your fingers. Society is complicated. We’re not anti-car, it’s more nuanced than that.”
City and countryside: two different realities
In cities, cycling infrastructure is expanding and the accident rate is rising more slowly. In Paris, this is obvious. Urban cyclists now know which zones are safe and where they are heading into the traffic jungle. The real problem area is the countryside. French rural roads still have very little heavy infrastructure. Mixing a bike at 20 km/h with a car weighing a tonne and a half at 80 km/h does not go well.
Local initiatives do exist. North of Nantes, a local authority bought a house to make way for cycling infrastructure and built a bridge so cows would no longer block cyclists. Dozens of kilometres through open countryside, fully protected. But these examples remain rare.
“Mixing a car weighing a tonne and a half doing 80 kilometres an hour with a bike doing about twenty, that doesn’t go well.”
Junctions kill: the case of lorries
In cities, many fatal cyclist accidents involve lorries turning right and cutting across the cyclist’s path. The scenario repeats itself: the lorry turns, the cyclist ends up under the wheels. Blind-spot warnings on lorries are not enough, because the problem is structural. A cyclist on a cycle track riding straight ahead is not overtaking on the right. It is the flow of motor traffic that should stop.
Dutch-style junctions, where cars are forced to turn at a right angle, make drivers check their blind spot and slow down. But too many junctions remain unimproved. In Rennes, in February 2024, Rennes Métropole was prosecuted for manslaughter for not having adequately fitted out a cycling space, a failure that led to the death of a 22-year-old woman cyclist. It is the first time a French local authority has been sent before a criminal court over a failing cycling infrastructure.
“Inadequate provision can end up at the centre of a legal case. Political decision-makers can be prosecuted.”
A justice system too lenient on road deaths
Yann points to a paradox. Society tends to do away with violent deaths, yet road deaths interest almost no one. A cyclist killed makes a short item in a newspaper. Families fight for years to get justice. The arguments used by drivers involved, the sun was in their eyes, they did not see the cyclist, come up time and again.
Sentences remain lenient. Some campaign groups put forward the idea that a car could be treated as a weapon. Yann is convinced that in several years’ time, society will no longer tolerate deaths on the road. Self-driving vehicles and changing attitudes will make it unacceptable that someone could die cycling to work.
“In a few years, a death on the road will not be conceivable. People won’t understand how someone can die like that.”
Solutions: infrastructure, education, small actions
There are several possible courses of action. First, keep developing infrastructure, in towns and above all in rural areas. Second, reduce driving speeds. Teach children to cycle from school age, because a child who understands what it means to be vulnerable on the road will grow into a more careful driver.
Yann also stresses the small actions that drivers see as harmless but that can kill: parking for 5 minutes on a cycle track (a €135 fine, it is a seriously obstructive way to park), overtaking a group of cyclists and ending up facing an oncoming cyclist, not slowing down when visibility is poor. On the cyclist’s side, understanding what is going through a driver’s mind and anticipating dangerous situations is also part of staying alive on the road.
“Parking on a cycle lane should not be treated as harmless. It’s a €135 fine. It is a serious thing to do.”
