Pedestrian streets, zones 30, speed bumps, etc. For years, towns and cities have been competing for amenities to appease car traffic and secure bipeds. But there is still a long way to go for pedestrians to move through the heart of a peaceful city. According to the final report on the 2019 road accident published on Tuesday by the National Interministerial Observatory for Road Safety (ONISR), the simple fact of walking on the sidewalk or the pavement exposes you to giving up your life.
In urban areas, mortality has indeed increased by 8% compared to 2018 and this increase in the number of deaths particularly affected pedestrians (+ 22 killed including + 14 killed among seniors aged 75 and over). "It is always the senior pedestrians who are the most vulnerable because they see less well, hear less well and ... run slower," notes Jean-Paul Lechevalier bitterly, the spokesperson for the association 60 million pedestrians. This means that we must systematically remember these basic rules of caution: we must always cross in nails, never cross the road running to catch our bus and never do it by phone because when we have the cell phone in our ears , we neither hear nor see the danger coming. "
"There are not enough controls"
Why is the city, supposed to be a sanctuary for pedestrians, proving to be such a source of danger? "Because there are not enough speed controls," responds without hesitation the president of the League against road violence Chantal Perrichon. “Only 3% of speed cameras located on French territory control speed in the city and the policy of zones 30 is a huge illusion since we do not carry out enough checks to sanction motorists who do not respect this limitation. "
Another danger emerging in town for walking users: the boom of cyclists and electric scooters. "Pedestrians, who were already the most vulnerable category, will be even more the target of all users of these new modes of travel who do not respect the rules", underlines Chantal Perrichon.
Following the death in 2019 of an octogenarian, overturned at a pedestrian crossing, by a person traveling on an electric scooter, the personal motorized displacement vehicles (EDPM) have been the subject of new regulations. It is now forbidden to drive on the sidewalks, to drive at more than 25 km / h on the road and to wear headphones. "The phenomenon of self-service scooter rentals is a risk factor for pedestrians because those who rent these machines for the first time sometimes have no notion of safety or respect for the Highway Code", deplores Jean -Paul Lechevalier.
To further secure pedestrian crossings that too many motorists or bikers forget to respect, the Ministry of the Interior has decreed a new rule which will gradually apply in cities: the prohibition on parking upstream of zebra crossings so that cars and motorcycles see from afar the arrival of a pedestrian. Road managers must carry out the compliance work by December 31, 2026 at the latest.
