Month: May 2021

If the Covid-19 crisis has had one virtue, it is to accelerate environmental awareness and to inflate the rise of electromobility. While they went from 38,000 to 102,083 between 2010 and 2015, sales of electrically assisted bicycles (VAE) soared in the second half of the decade.

 

514 672 VAE were acquired by the French in 2020, an increase of 29% compared to 2019, already a record year. In total, according to the Cycle Observatory, the electric bicycle represented more than 1 billion euros in turnover in France over the last year.

 

On its own, it generates a third of cycle market revenue. Logic: it is sold on average at 2,079 euros, against 394 euros for a classic bike. This, excluding bonus awarded for example by the Ile-de-France Region of 500 euros (or 50% of the price) for a classic bike or 600 euros (or 50% of the price) for a cargo bike. Prices mainly due to the battery which, if it represents 10 to 20% of the weight of an e-bike, contributes 25 to 65% of the final amount.

 

In this buoyant market, the city bike type electric bicycle is performing well in 2020 with 40% of sales, followed by mountain biking at 27% and VTC at 21%, the latter technically suitable for mixed city use and country walks.

 

Because it is in urban areas that the madness of the VAE asserts itself the strongest. Normal, this is where it is best suited. “The main interest of the electric bicycle is to flatten the ribs. It offers perfect assistance on the way up and makes it possible not to arrive sweaty at work or a meeting”, comments Bertrand Lambert, presenter of “Parigo”, every Saturday at 12:05 on France 3 Paris-Ile-de- France.

 

In addition, after the first deconfinement, the City of Paris set up “coronapistes” who run along the routes of the metro lines. Originally provisional, these cycle paths are called upon to be perpetuated and transformed to offer real safety to cyclists. Because the electric bike is fast… In town, it is even faster than the car. The average speed of movement of a Parisian VAE is 19 km / h, against 14 km / h for a car.

 

The trend will accelerate further

At this speed, if the helmet is not yet mandatory, it is highly recommended. Bike sales jumped, but so did traffic accidents. Over the whole of 2020, according to figures from the Paris police headquarters, there were 919 cyclists victims of a road accident, against 680 in 2019. Among them, 8 died. Wearing a helmet, gloves, suitable shoes, and a reflective vest is more relevant than ever.

 

In addition, if no decision of global obligation has yet been taken by the public authorities, they have already legislated in the direction of protection against theft. Since January 1, “registration” of new bicycles, electric or not, is compulsory for purchase. It is a marking of the frame with ten unalterable alphanumeric characters. The number is written on the purchase invoice and recorded in a national file with the owner’s contact details, the description of the machine (color, make, model), and possibly its serial number as well as that of the battery.

 

“The problem is that if the law obliges you to mark your bike, nothing has been organized for that. There are no well-defined rules and we remain in the dark. Above all, if this will perhaps allow the police to find stolen bikes, it will be by chance. They will not launch specific searches. It’s not like a car,” comments a salesperson from the cycle department at Decathlon, not very convinced.

 

While the measure will not deter thieves, it will not hold back buyers either. The madness of the VAE is well and truly set to last. The Cycle Observatory estimates that the trend towards purchasing electrified bicycles will further accelerate in the years to come. While it took five years to reach the 500,000 units sold in one year, industry professionals believe that the milestone of one million electrified bikes sold will be crossed in 2024.

 

The ultimate proof that the phenomenon will continue and grow: since 2018, a battery recycling sector has been set up under state approval, Corépile. In two years, it has already recycled more than 100,000 pieces of light electric vehicle equipment (bicycles, but not only) aged between five and ten years. The process takes place in five stages: collection, disassembly, the partition of cells, separation of metals, and, finally, reuse or disposal. The responsible economy has taken the wheel of pedelecs.

The weather is good for spending your free time on bicycle trips. However, it should be remembered that when cycling, we belong to the group of unprotected road users. Police officers remind the most important rules and safety rules for cyclists.

 

For most people, cycling is a way of spending free time and recreation actively, for others it is a means of communication for commuting to work, school, or shopping. Anyone who uses a bicycle on the road should know that a bicycle, like a car or any other vehicle, must meet safety requirements. It should be operational and have the obligatory equipment.

 

The bicycle should be equipped with:

at the front – at least one white or selective yellow position light (maybe flashing);

at the rear – at least one red reflex reflector not triangular in shape and at least one red position lamp (maybe flashing);

at least one effective brake;

with a bell or other warning signal with a non-piercing sound.

The bicycle can be equipped with:

 

at the front – white reflective light;

on wheels – car yellow reflectors (at least one per wheel);

on pedals – yellow reflective lights;

Continuous ring-shaped reflective stripe on both sides of the tire, or continuous ring-shaped reflective elements on the side surfaces of the wheels.

A bicycle checkout and a reflective vest are not obligatory, but it is worth using them. The helmet protects our head in the event of a fall. The vest increases our visibility, giving other road users time to behave appropriately.

 

Keep in mind that:

a bike rider who is under 10 years of age may use the roads only under the supervision of an adult. According to Polish regulations, he is considered a pedestrian,

a cyclist who is 10 years old and under 18 may drive a bicycle on a public road, in a residential zone or traffic zone only if he has a bicycle card or a driving license of category A1, B1 or T.

After the age of 18, you do not need to have a license to drive a bicycle.

 

Transportation of people by bike

 

A child up to 7 years old may be transported on a bicycle, provided that it is placed on an additional seat that ensures safe riding. You can also transport a child in a trailer structurally adapted to transport people, pulled by a bicycle or a bicycle stroller.

 

A person over 17 years of age may transport another person on a bicycle.

 

In particular, the cyclist is not allowed to:

 

drive without holding at least one hand on the steering wheel and without feet on the pedals,

talk on the phone if it requires holding the handset in your hand,

cling to vehicles,

drive along the sidewalk or a pedestrian crossing,

overtake a vehicle at and directly in front of a pedestrian crossing, except for the crossing on which traffic is being directed,

avoid a vehicle that was driving in the same direction, but stopped to give way to a pedestrian,

drive around abandoned barriers or half-barriers at the railway crossing and enter the crossing if leaving them has started or lifting has not been completed,

drive while drunk, after using alcohol or a similar agent.

Where can a cyclist go?

The bicycle driver is obliged to use the bicycle path, bicycle path, pedestrian path, or bicycle lane if they are designated for the direction in which he or she is moving or intends to turn. If he moves along a path for bicycles and pedestrians, he is obliged to exercise particular caution and give way to pedestrians.

 

Bicycle lanes differ from a cycle path mainly in that they are separated from the road surface, e.g. by a solid line or pavement color, while a cycle path is structurally separated from the road, e.g. by a green belt. Often, like the pavement, it is higher than the road.

 

And when there is no road intended specifically for cyclists or it cannot be used e.g. due to road works, then the cyclist should move along the roadside, and if it is impossible – along the road (near the right edge). He may ride on the left side of the road on the terms of pedestrian traffic if he is an adult and takes care of a child under the age of 10 who rides a bicycle.

 

Not every road is intended for bicycle traffic. The regulations prohibit the movement of bicycles (and mopeds) on expressways and highways.

 

The use of the sidewalk or pedestrian path by a bicycle rider is allowed exceptionally when:

 

he looks after a bicycle driver up to 10 years old,

the width of the sidewalk along the road, on which vehicle traffic is allowed at a speed greater than 50 km / h, is at least 2 m and there is no separate road for bicycles and a lane for bicycles,

weather conditions endanger the safety of the cyclist on the road (snow, strong wind, downpour, black ice, dense fog).

A bicycle lock is also a place intended for a cyclist. It covers a part of the road at the entrance of the intersection along the entire width of the road or selected lane, in front of the car stop line. It is designed to stop bicycles to change direction or give way. When the signal is green, cyclists set off earlier than the cars behind them.

The law of 5 July 1985, known as the Badinter law, sought to improve compensation for victims of road accidents who do not drive a car: pedestrians, cyclists, children, the elderly, etc.

 

Its article 3 states, in fact: “The victims, apart from the drivers of motorized land vehicles, are compensated for the damage resulting from the attacks on their person which they have suffered, without their fault being able to be brought against them except their inexcusable fault if it was the sole cause of the accident. ”

 

The courts rarely retain the existence of an “inexcusable fault”, as shown in this recent example: the evening of 29 December 2015, M me  A, dressed in the dark, walking on a country road, when she fatally hit by a car. The following investigation shows that she was under the influence of alcohol and drugs and that, a few minutes earlier, she had tried to throw herself under another vehicle.

 

No-fault is held against the driver, Ms.  B. The family of Ms.  A nevertheless pursues the driver, accusing her of a lack of control, as well as her insurer, to be compensated for her “damage affection”.

 

Drunk and barefoot

The high court of Albi (Tarn) rejects her, after having noted “the inexcusable fault” of the victim, but she appealed. His lawyer argues that “alone, willful misconduct, of exceptional gravity, exposing its perpetrator without a valid reason to a danger of which he should have been aware, can exonerate the driver from his responsibility”.

 

He recalls that “the Court of Cassation only accepts the exclusion of the right to compensation in a strict manner, and in particularly serious cases such as the victim of lying down at night in the middle of a busy traffic lane. and without lighting”.

 

On February 18, 2021, the Toulouse Court of Appeal reversed the judgment: “Si [M me  A] was walking barefoot, dressed in black, on a departmental road devoid of public lighting and where the speed was authorized at 90 km / h, it was not traveling in the middle of the road, but on the left side about its direction of travel, then facing vehicles arriving in the opposite direction, but above all, it was then under the influence of a very high alcohol level of 2.77 gr/liter in the blood, associated with significant traces of cannabis and an antidepressant, so that it is not established that she was then aware of the danger to which she was exposing herself.”

 

The court ordered the insurer to pay 14,000 euros to the mother of M me  A and 6000 euros to each of two of his brothers.

 

The following case pits a cyclist, who rolls in the wrong direction, one evening, in a street in Nanterre, and the police who hit him, causing him to fracture his right arm.

 

In the absence of an amicable agreement on the amount of his compensation, the cyclist, Mr. X, assigns the State judicial agent. The Versailles Court of Appeal confirmed, on January 14, 2021, that his ” misconduct” cannot be qualified as “inexcusable”, given the precautions he took to be visible (reflective vest, headlights on). She also considers that this fault is not the “exclusive cause” of the accident: the driver should have checked whether a vehicle was coming from his right, before entering the street. The court confirms Mr. X’s “entire right” to compensation.

 

The Court of Cassation regularly recalls that it is necessary to “characterize” the existence of an inexcusable fault, as the following example reminds us. On October 14, 2012, around half past midnight, Clément, 16, and Xavier, 17, were cycling on a departmental road when they were hit by a car. Clément, thrown forty meters away, dies. Xavier is injured. Areas Dommage, the insurer of the driver, summons the parents of the two minors, to ask that they are not entitled to any compensation, because of the “inexcusable fault, exclusive cause of the accident”, that they would have committed.

 

The Montpellier Court of Appeal, which rules on January 16, 2018, admits the existence of such a fault: it judges that the young boys have, “voluntarily, at night, decided to take the departmental road, instead of the cycle path, to return faster, while their bicycles were devoid of any lighting, and that, given their respective ages, they were aware of the danger”.

 

Xavier and Clément’s parents appeal to the Supreme Court. They explain that inexcusable fault “requires the victim’s absence of a valid reason to expose himself to danger”. However, they argue, in particular, the two teenagers had chosen to take the departmental road “to avoid the dangers presented by the unlit cycle path, rutted and strewn with obstacles”, and “by granting the headlights cars sufficient visibility capability for their drivers”.

 

The Court of Cassation admitted, on March 28, 2019, that the elements noted by the Court of Appeal do not “characterize” the existence of an inexcusable fault. It quashes the judgment and sends the parties back to the Nîmes Court of Appeal.

Surely you know that when you buy a car, you have not quite won yet. To drive safely and be prepared for any problems you may encounter, you also need a few other things, whether in the car itself or home in the garage. What accessories are they and how much will they cost you?

Storage, maintenance, and safe and comfortable driving

The needs for drivers could be divided into several groups. The first of these are the ones that are important for your safe and trouble-free driving. This mainly includes mandatory equipment, ie a spare wheel, a set for its replacement, a warning triangle, a first aid kit, and a reflective vest.

If any of these items are missing from your car, you should purchase them immediately. Not only would you not have everything you need to secure your car and possibly injured people in the event of an accident, but you would be fined for a police check.

As for the mentioned vest, it is definitely worth having at least two pieces in the car, one for the driver and the other for the passenger. It can be assumed that when you need an emergency stop, it will not wait for you all the time in the car. As you can see in the table below, where we compare the prices of various car accessories, it will cost you a few crowns, whether you buy it in action or not.

In addition to the basic needs included in the mandatory equipment, it also pays to carry a tow rope. All you have to do is forget to turn off the lights or just close the door incorrectly and the battery will be completely discharged in a few hours. How do you start then? Probably hard on their own, so someone will have to stretch you to get your engine off. And without a tow rope, it would be really hard for you. Again, this is not an expensive affair that can pull you out of a real mess.

If your battery does not have time to charge on the way home or runs out overnight when you park in the garage or front of the house, you will also need a car battery charger. Of course, you don’t have to take it with you, just store it somewhere in a closet at home, and when needed, just remove the car battery and let it charge at home. Here, it is worth watching the event, as the table above shows, you can save several hundred thanks to them.

You can then use them, for example, to ensure comfort in the car as well. This brings us to the second group of car equipment, which are things that make driving more enjoyable. It can be, for example, the mentioned phone stand, with which you will be able to use the navigation or play music much better. If you suffer from cleaning, you can’t do without a hand-held vacuum cleaner in the car, with which you can vacuum all the crumbs in a few seconds.

The last group of things worth thinking about is the ones that make it easier for you to store all the things you need as a car owner but don’t use them all the time. By this, we mean not only the case where you store the washer fluid, the rest of the engine oil, the preparations for the treatment of the dashboard, or the broom and scraper for ice and snow. But also a tire stand – winter or summer tires still need their place, while they wait half a year for you to put them on again.

Don’t forget your pets either!

If you have a pet and you are carrying it in your car, you have to think of a few other things. In this case, you will also need a seat belt for your four-legged friend and also a blanket to protect your upholstery. The best are special animal blankets, which have a waterproof layer on the underside – this is exactly what Kaufland offers a leaflet for a special price, along with other handy things for dogs and cats.

The list of mandatory equipment for a car registered in Poland is not too long. The penalty for any shortcomings, however, turns out to be the most serious. Drivers face a fine of up to PLN 500!

 

Polish regulations do not impose prohibitive requirements on drivers. So what is the mandatory equipment for the car? According to the ordinance of the Minister of Infrastructure, this consists of two elements, i.e. a fire extinguisher and a warning triangle. In the case of a fire extinguisher, it is important that it has an ABC type and a content of the extinguishing agent of at least 1 kg, and that it is approved and placed in an easily accessible place. An interesting fact is that Polish regulations do not mention the validity of a fire extinguisher. Thus, the expiry of the approval date does not prevent the driver from fulfilling his obligation.

 

No fire extinguisher or triangle? A fine of up to PLN 500!

Mandatory equipment means that the driver may be fined for deficiencies. How much is the penalty? The ticket tariff indicates that the driver may be fined from PLN 20 to PLN 500 for the lack of a fire extinguisher or warning triangle. The final amount of the card is determined at the discretion of the policeman. And the consequences don’t end there. Because the leader is exposed to a fine also in a situation where the fire extinguisher is not in an easily accessible place. In addition, deficiencies in the mandatory equipment of the vehicle may have a problem with the extension of the validity of the technical examination during the inspection at the SKP.

 

The obligatory equipment of a car in Poland is rather … symbolic. It is therefore worth considering what else should be in the vehicle. What is worth buying? For example, a first aid kit. This should include a bandage and plasters with a dressing, protective gloves, disinfectant, a tourniquet, a heat-insulating blanket, a triangular scarf, or a mouthpiece for artificial respiration. In addition, the driver has to think about carrying a reflective vest in the car. This will improve its safety level in the event of a car breakdown after dark. The driver will be visible to other road users while walking around the damaged vehicle.

 

Mandatory car equipment. In the EU, the list can go on!

Polish regulations are not very restrictive in the case of mandatory vehicle equipment. However, we are not the only exception in Europe. For example, in Portugal, a car must have a warning triangle and a reflective vest, and in Great Britain only a warning triangle. Of course, there are also cases with much more restrictive regulations. And our neighbors – the Slovaks – come to the fore in this matter. Vehicles registered in Slovakia must have a fire extinguisher, a first aid kit, a triangle, a set of spare bulbs and fuses, a vest, a spare wheel, and a tow rope. And almost the same long list applies in the Czech Republic or Spain.

For three years now, a new safety requirement has appeared in the traffic rules. This is, of course, a reflective vest. Some motorists immediately bought these vests and put them in the car. And some motorists never got around to getting them. But do you need such a vest in the car all the time? And does the inspector have the right to demand to show a reflective vest?

 

First of all, it should be understood that the rules clearly state when exactly a reflective vest is needed:

 

an emergency stop was made on the side of the road outside the settlement;

it is dark, or visibility is limited.

That is, you should wear a reflective vest only if all of the above conditions are met. In this case, if there is no vest, you will be fined 500 rubles (Article 12.29 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation). If an accident occurs, the fine will increase to 1,000 rubles (Article 12.27 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation).

 

At the same time, the rules do not require the constant presence of a reflective vest in the car. Therefore, the inspector has no right to demand to show it.

 

Do you have a reflective vest in your car? Share your arguments in the comments.