“We have reached the bottom”: SUV driver charged with murder after cyclist’s road rage death leaves French cycling community “deeply shaken”

United in grief and horror at the shocking events which unfurled on a cycle lane in their nation’s capital this week, France’s cycling community has called for an end to “road violence”, following the tragic death of a cyclist reportedly crushed by a SUV driver during a road rage altercation in Paris.

On Friday afternoon, a 52-year-old driver was charged with murder in relation to the shocking incident, which according to witnesses and the local police saw the motorist deliberately drive over 27-year-old cyclist Paul Varry, crushing him to death, after the cyclist had banged on his Mercedes SUV when the driver had veered into an unprotected cycle lane, driving over the rider’s foot.

The sickening road rage attack has been condemned by cyclists and politicians across Paris and France, with one French cyclist telling road.cc that the “unprecedented” incident has left the nation’s cycling community “deeply shaken”, saying “this week, we have reached the bottom”.

Meanwhile, Paris’ mayor Anne Hidalgo, who has been responsible for the city’s cycling infrastructure revolution over the past decade, said it was “unacceptable to die in Paris today while riding a bike”, and the president of a major French cycling association also claimed that “society is more accepting of violence when it takes place on the road”.

Découverte macabre

😢Le meurtre du cycliste Paul a commencé par une altercation. Je suis retourné à l’endroit où le conducteur du SUV l’a écrasé pour comprendre d’où vient cette agressivité.

🤬J’ai compris au bout de 2 minutes: terrible laxisme et aménagement!#JeSuisPaulVarry pic.twitter.com/qa9DYny1Bf

— Stein van Oosteren (@LCyclable) October 16, 2024

The cyclist was killed following a furious roadside altercation which took place at around 5.45pm on Tuesday evening on Boulevard Malesherbes, near Place de la Madeleine, in Paris’ wealthy 8th arrondissement.

According to a statement issued by French police and reported by Le Parisien, video footage and eye-witness testimony has revealed that the driver of a luxury Mercedes SUV – who was travelling with his teenage daughter – drove “for 200m” along a painted, unprotected cycle lane.

While veering into the lane, the 52-year-old allegedly drove over the foot of a cyclist, named by French cycling bodies as 27-year-old Paul Varry, a prominent member of the Paris en Selle cycling campaign group.

The public prosecutor says that Varry then “hit the bonnet to alert the driver, who initially backed up, freeing his foot”. The 27-year-old then dropped his bike and positioned himself in front of the car, engaging in what witnesses described as a ferocious row with the driver at the side of the busy boulevard.

Soon after, the public prosecutor said, the “driver then turned his wheels towards the [cyclist] and resumed forward motion towards him”, hitting Varry.

Eight witnesses claimed that the motorist appeared to reverse after hitting the cyclist for a second time, before moving forward again over Varry’s body, sending him into cardiac-respiratory arrest. He died at the scene.

Paul Varry (French Cycling Federation)

The subsequent postmortem “confirmed the marks of the vehicle crossing the body”, prosecutors said, and “the video surveillance shows an elevation of the front, then the rear of the left side of the vehicle”.

The 52-year-old motorist was arrested at the scene, and despite denying that he had deliberately aimed his car at the cyclist, was charged with murder on Friday following a court hearing.

“Motorised violence is largely trivialised and tolerated by the public authorities. Today, motorised violence kills”

The appalling death of a 27-year-old cyclist in Paris has sparked an outcry among cyclists in the capital and across France, with Varry’s death described as an “unacceptable tragedy” by his Paris en Selle group.

Around 200 people gathered on Wednesday evening at the scene of the incident near the Place de la Madeleine to pay tribute, while a minute’s silence has been organised across France on Saturday evening as part of a call to stop “motorised violence”.

“We are shocked, sad, angry,” Paris en Selle (Paris in the Saddle), which campaigns for safe cycling, said in a statement. “On Tuesday evening, Paul was killed by a motorist after an altercation while he was riding his bike. He was 27-years-old. He was a member of the Paris en Selle association, and campaigned for a city where everyone can move around safely.

“This tragedy resonates with many of us. As cyclists, we have all been victims of motorised violence: honking, insults, intimidation, overtaking and more… This motorised violence is largely trivialised and tolerated by the public authorities. Today, this motorised violence kills.

“Cyclists are all vulnerable road users, like pedestrians. We don’t have steel bodywork to protect us. There is always lots of tension. Some of our members have shocking stories to relate.

“We invite you to pay tribute to Paul this Saturday, October 19. All over France, we call for people to gather at 5.45pm for a minute of silence in front of your town hall. This tribute is a message to our leaders: stop motorised violence. It is time to listen to the reality of our daily lives and take all necessary measures to avoid a new tragedy!”

Paul Varry (Paris en Selle)

The call to end “motorised violence” has been echoed by other cycling and active travel groups in France.

Describing the incident to Le Monde, Alexis Frémeaux, the president of the Mieux se Déplacer à Bicyclette (Moving Better by Bicycle) group and co-president of the French Federation of Bicycle Users, said: “According to reports of the incident, it was no accident. The SUV driver seems to have deliberately decided to crush the cyclist. It would therefore be a murder.

“FUB members have reported several similar cases, even though they have not resulted in the victims’ deaths. Moreover, when an accident occurs, with the cyclist dying and no witnesses coming forward, it is difficult to determine exactly how the events transpired.”

> Questions asked as speeding suspended driver kills French cyclist in “125mph” hit-and-run crash after hiring Lamborghini without valid driving licence

Frémeaux said the tragedy has led to cyclists from all over France to share their own stories of road violence.

“We've received nearly 150 testimonials, from all over France and beyond,” he said.

“This case is stirring up a great deal of emotion among people who travel by bike. Everyone seems to have a story to tell: People, on bikes or on foot, who have been honked at, verbally or physically assaulted, threatened with beatings or death, or had a drive swerve toward them in an attempt to destabilise them.

“People have reported having to protect themselves, flee, or hide. I have observed that the perpetrators are often motorists or motorcyclists who don’t accept being slowed down, or making a detour from their route. And they are even more opposed to being called out on it. I also note that almost all of them are men.

“Society is more accepting of violence when it takes place on the road. Excuses are made for the perpetrator: It was not deliberate, he was in a hurry. A few years ago, a celebrity [musician Michel Sardou] was able to say on TV, when speaking about cyclists, ‘the next one, I’m getting him’, without eliciting any reaction from the presenter.

“I observe that many politicians and commentators challenge road safety measures, as was the case when, in 2018, the road speed limit was set at 80kph.”

> Paris to become '100 per cent cycling city' within next four years

Meanwhile, one cyclist from the south of France told road.cc today that the lack of an effective online reporting tool in the country for footage of road offences, like Operation Snap in the UK, has given a “free pass” to dangerous motorists.

“This week, we have reached the bottom,” researcher Benoit, a leisure cyclist, told us. “[Varry’s death] has deeply shaken the French cycling community nationwide. It is something unprecedented.

“This horrible story has shocked the cycling community, and across all the community, commuters, racers, all range of cyclists really.

“While around 16 cyclists a month get killed by motorists in ‘accidents’, this time it is different, it was literally premeditated.

“I often hear that France is great for cycling, that French drivers are considerate, but it is not true. We do have the same problems as the UK’s roads! We all remain vulnerable, and we need to stand united. 

“Unfortunately in France we do not have this scheme that you have in the UK, where you can report footage like CyclingMikey does. So it is a free pass for motorists.”

> “The only motive was idiocy”: Two men who pushed cyclists into ditches for “fun” handed a two-year suspended prison sentence

In a tribute posted on social media on Friday, the French Cycling Federation also said it was “deeply shocked by the death of Paul Varry.

“The road is a space for sharing, where intolerance and violence cannot be the rule. We extend our sincere condolences to Paul’s family and friends.”

In 2023, 226 cyclists were killed on French roads, though only one of these was in Paris.

The capital’s mayor Anne Hidalgo, who spearheaded Paris’ active travel push since being elected in 2014, responded to Tuesday’s shocking news by saying it was “unacceptable in this day and age for someone to die on a bicycle in Paris”.

A Paris deputy mayor, David Belliard, also said on social media: “What happened last night is horrifying … This young man is a new victim of road violence. Cars can drive you mad. Cars kill. Cyclists and pedestrians are their first victims.”