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Should we limit the speed of bikes? This is the question posed by the city of Chambéry, in Savoy. On the spot, the bike is the victim of its success and many users do not always respect the rules on the roads.
This text corresponds to part of the transcription of the report above. Click on the video to watch it in full.
Chambéry, its mountains, its castle … and its cyclistsalways more numerous. “I live in the city center and now I only travel like that, I don't take car at all, I'm 10 minutes from the center”confirms a local resident. Plus 38 % attendance on cycle paths over the past five years. In the Savoyard city, bikes are omnipresent, sometimes with risky behaviors, according to some pedestrians.
“One day or another, they will reverse children, or even us, because we may tell them that it is not here, that it is the bikes there on the cycle path, there is no use at all”estimates a resident. “They do not respect, young or old, nothing at all. They are the kings. And then they go fast, they go fast”add another.
In Chambéry, as in many cities, cohabitation has become complicated. In a park, for example, the two wheels are prohibited, in theory. And at certain passages, the signal lights are sometimes ignored. This cyclist is the first to deplore him: “We have a pedestrian passage in front of us. Bikes do not necessarily stop, and even, they are not happy when they have to stop. But it is a general behavior”he deplores.
Increasingly, in the street, the elected officials are arrested by residents. “They don't have to go there and they sometimes pass very quickly”alert a woman. The city therefore decided to regulate more, by multiplying the baffles to force to slow down, even to descend with bikes, and by also creating so -called “feet on the ground” areas. This is very recent and the cyclists, obviously, are not all aware.
“There, we decided to make an area entirely dedicated to pedestrians with a new sign, but it must be appropriate. We will work there and we will further strengthen the signaling and the controls”assures Isabelle Dunod, assistant (various left) for mobility – Chambéry town hall.
According to the highway code, a pedestrian is always a priority and in the city centers, the two wheels must ride in step. Otherwise, they risk a fine of 38 euros.
