As Bikers Throng the Streets, 'It's Like Paris Is in Anarchy' - rising tensions with pedestrians

[Demovictory9]

As Bikers Throng the Streets, ‘It’s Like Paris Is in Anarchy’
An ecologically minded experiment to make Paris a cycling capital of Europe has led to a million people now pedaling daily — and to rising tensions with pedestrians.

PARIS — On a recent afternoon, the Rue de Rivoli looked like this: Cyclists blowing through red lights in two directions. Delivery bike riders fixating on their cellphones. Electric scooters careening across lanes. Jaywalkers and nervous pedestrians scrambling as if in a video game.

Sarah Famery, a 20-year resident of the Marais neighborhood, braced for the tumult. She looked left, then right, then left and right again before venturing into a crosswalk, only to break into a rant-laden sprint as two cyclists came within inches of grazing her.

“It’s chaos!” exclaimed Ms. Famery, shaking a fist at the swarm of bikes that have displaced cars on the Rue de Rivoli ever since it was remade into a multilane highway for cyclists last year. “Politicians want to make Paris a cycling city, but no one is following any rules,” she said. “It’s becoming risky just to cross the street!”



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But with success has come major growing pains.

“It’s like Paris is in anarchy,” said Jean-Conrad LeMaitre, a former banker who was out for a stroll recently along the Rue de Rivoli. “We need to reduce pollution and improve the environment,” he said. “But everyone is just doing as they please. There are no police, no fines, no training and no respect.”



https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/02/world/europe/paris-bicyles-france.html

[Klaralven]

1. No surprise if you've seen pictures of Asian streets a few decades ago, before cars.

[BeyondGeography]

2. The French are particularly bad at this

It’s not just Paris. There’s no adherence to lanes, no rules. Try walking around Strasbourg without dodging a cyclist or getting buzzed by one. They come at you from everywhere. Then go to a place like Constance (Germany) where the cyclists have one lane, pedestrians another.

[LisaM]

3. Maybe, but I have had issues in Seattle.

I recently started a new job down on the waterfront and while it's mostly WFH, I have had to go in a few times and have nearly been clocked by bikes and especially scooters a few times. It needs to be strongly emphasized that pedestrians have the right of way.

It started getting bad with the Lime and Ofo bikes a few years ago with people riding them on sidewalks. And I called the city council and mayor several times and begged them not to allow the scooters, because a trip I had taken to San Diego was almost ruined by the chaos created by rude and dangerous scooter riders.

They need to initiate some huge fines for this.

[BeyondGeography]

5. I was talking Europe, NYC is nightmarish too

There are lanes, but you’re making a big mistake if you think they’ll only be coming from the designated direction.

I totally agree with you on penalties and lack thereof. A few years back a woman was killed in Central Park by a cyclist who was using the Park for triathlete training and hitting speeds of up to 35 mph. He ran her over in a crosswalk, swerving to avoid her rather than braking. Nothing ever came of it:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2014/09/22/mom-struck-by-cyclist-in-central-park-dies/amp/

[LisaM]

6. The actor Lisa Banes was killed by a scooter.

She was listed on the In Memoriam at the Tony awards the other night.

I have been attempting for years to get around mostly by walking/busing. It's becoming increasingly difficult, as they are cutting local bus routes in favor of light rail, and then the worries about getting crashed into. One reason I was walking down to my work at the last pier on the waterfront is that there are no buses at all on the whole waterfront. We are trying to limit auto traffic too, and pedestrian/transit combinations are absolutely not being factored in.

I like to walk but now I need my head on a swivel. It's terrifying.

Factor in age and disability - not everyone can hop on a bike or scooter. They would be better off with free streetcars.

[doc03]

4. I ride a bike myself on rail trails. There are some on the bike trails that have no courtesy

for other bikers. You go out for a leisurely ride and they are the ones that blow past you 20 MPH without out
signaling they are passing. They go out for a ride and try to set a new time record each time screw anyone else on the
trail. Some friends went to Europe on a bike vacation they said everyone in Amsterdam rode a bike and it was like that.
Makes me think of the movies and TV shows back in the day when the biker gang took over a whole town. Don't mess
with an old guy on a bicycle.

[LisaM]

7. The photos from Amsterdam look awful.

Worse, now a lot of bikes seem to have these huge wooden wagons in front of them. I wouldn't want to try and cross in front of one of those.

[Blues Heron]

8. just remind yourself that for each bike you see - that could be a car

imagine the traffic if all those bikers switched to cars en masse!

[LisaM]

19. I would rather see them on transit.

I am a dedicated walker and I am tired of dodging wheels on the sidewalks and at crosswalks. I have the right of way.

[doc03]

21. I saw a video of a bicycle multilevel parking garage in

Amsterdam I believe. The bikes went around to several floors each bicycle had its own little cubicle to park in. They said there were hardly any cars on the street mostly delivery vehicles. I have seen pictures of surface lots with hundreds of bikes I don't know how you would find you own bike. They said nobody signals if you see someone look to the right they know to let them turn or wreck.

[Laurelin]

18. Amsterdam is crowded, but I'd rather bike there than drive

For the most part the Netherlands has cycling down to a fine art with bike paths, bike lanes, pedestrian lanes and trails, and ridiculously skilled bikers. I hadn't been on a bike in over 20 years when we moved here but it didn't take me too long to feel safe biking. I do wear a helmet, which is very unDutch, but I am just not as skilled as the locals are. I really love riding my bike for errands that required a car in Texas.

[Champp]

9. "Did somebody say, 'take over the town'?" - The Wild Ones

[Ron Green]

10. Lots of car-centric responses on this thread.

[BeyondGeography]

11. More like human-centric

[Wounded Bear]

12. Perhaps there are some posters who wish more bicyclists would follow traffic laws...

[MineralMan]

13. Not really. I'm not seeing that.

I'm seeing people calling for cyclists to follow some rules so pedestrians can also go places. That doesn't seem so difficult. We count on vehicle drivers to obey traffic rules, and most do. Bicyclists, however seem to be less fastidious about that.

[Ron Green]

22. What's happening in Paris is "growing pains" associated with a very necessary change

that needs to happen almost everywhere cars have become harmful to the safety and productivity of places.

Some responses here are from those who’ve experienced gonzo cycling behavior in places most likely basically unfriendly to bike use.

Most responses are from those who use a car, because after all that’s most Americans. Very few drivers have done the mental work involved in seeing the paved world OTHER than through a windshield.

[MineralMan]

23. Perhaps so. Reality bites.

I take it that you do not own a car. I do not own a bicycle any longer. At age 76, I have given up traveling under my own power. My last bike was a lovely Panasonic that I restored after buying it at a Goodwill store for $5.

Growing pains, eh? I'm not seeing it where I live. There are two bicycle paths in my development that go for miles. I see few people using them. One is parallel to an arterial street just out my window. the other is part of a very long trail system that passes through my development.

Maybe 20 bikes a day use those bikeways.

[Ron Green]

25. I do own a car, but use it only when I have to.

At 74, I’m still able to ride - but not as far or fast as before. Very few people where I live use the bike for transportation, and with gasoline so cheap - less than $5 a gallon - that’s not likely to change.

The growing pains I speak of don’t yet apply in the U.S.; Paris, and other places where the car’s effect is seen and understood more clearly, will act not only out of decarbonization but out of love and care for their towns and neighborhoods.

Perhaps I should have said “Degrowing pains.”

[MineralMan]

27. Between my wife and I, we put maybe 5000 miles per year

on our two cars together. We also use cars only when we need to. But, we still need to go shopping, etc. I'm sure I could still ride a bicycle, but choose not to any longer, for my own safety.

Europe has a lot of bicycles, particularly in urban areas, where they make the most sense, I suppose. However, bicyclists really need to obey some commonsense rules and laws, or they pose a danger to pedestrians and themselves. Here in the USA, the bulk of bicyclists who do not own automobiles are young and, perhaps, still unaware of their risks most of the time. One person in this thread revealed that he/she likes to "go fast," and admitted to running stop signs and signals. Not a very wise choice, really, and one that will be repaid, in time, with a serious injury at some point.

[Ron Green]

28. You're speaking from a very car-centric point of view,

which is absolutely normal for Americans. Although you only drive 5000, you still have 2 cars - which is also completely normal.

Furthermore, your response is primarily about “bike riders running stop signs” and other immediate and personal safety issues, rather than a long-range look at land use, housing, commercial development, employment and all the other parts of the world we’ve built around the automobile.

Look, all I’m saying is that you, as a thoughtful person of a certain age, are taking a very “realistic” approach to change, or lack thereof. What that works out to in this case is that cars will continue to be the default, even in places where they’re most harmful.

[MineralMan]

29. Well, yes. Cars will continue to be the default,

because we have not built our cities and suburbs in a way that allows for eliminating them. Rural areas are even worse, since basic shopping requires trips measured in miles, rather than blocks.

So, we're going to keep driving, because of decisions made long, long ago.

I'm car-centric by necessity, quite frankly.

[gulliver]

14. Well, if you're being discourteous to cyclists or pedestrians, you should be fined

Cyclists need rules, laws, and consequences. Run a red light on a bike? Same fine as for a car. Graze someone with a bike and leave the scene? It's leaving the scene of an accident. Have trucks stationed around cities to hold impounded bikes taken from people who use them negligently. I predict manners would emerge.

[lindysalsagal]

15. My son-in-law is biking around Boston. I try not to think about it.

Also, when it gets wet and icy, yikes! I'm afraid he'll have to take a hard fall to believe it's not safe.

[FSogol]

26. My wife and recently biked all around Boston. It was awesome. Boston is mostly flat

and they have decent bike lanes everywhere. Wouldn't want to try it in the winter.

[luv2fly]

16. I admit I am a biking scofflaw

Some of the replies on here, well, you wouldn't much care for my biking behaviors. I stay safe, I've never caused an accident but I go fast and I sometimes blow through lights and stop signs. I'm more cautious as I age but I love going fast.

[Treefrog]

20. How nice.

[LanternWaste]

30. Still having problems with those slithy toves, eh?

We're crossing our fingers for you. Feel better! Good luck!!!

(even nicer)

[MineralMan]

24. Thanks for the warning.

I will watch out for you, as I watch out for all people on two wheels. I do wish, though, that you would follow the traffic rules. That would help you survive and help others to avoid harming you by accident.

If you ride on multi-use trails and paths, I also hope you will warn walkers that you are coming from behind and let them know on which side you will race by. We can't always hear bicyclists coming from behind. "On your left!"

[shrike3]

17. Where I live, few motorists know the rules of the road when it comes to cyclists.

I often hear "get off the road." I stay on bike trails as much as possible.

When I rode my bike to work, I rode it exactly like I drive a car. I got into left turning lanes, for examples. People could get quite irate. "Get out of my way." I don't know how it is in other states, but in mine, cyclists are to ride with traffic, not against it. I've been told I should be riding against traffic. Against the law in this state.

That said, the scene above does look dangerous for pedestrians. And sound dangerous -- looking at their cellphones, blowing red lights. If I tried to blow a red light around here, I'd get creamed.