I'm an urban cyclist. Weather permitting, I'm happy to criss-cross Paris by bicycle. And on distances under 5 km (about 3 miles), bicycle is often the fastest mode of transport.

I'm also a proud subscriber to Paris's innovative (for its scope and scale) bike rental system, Vélib. The system frees the cyclist of the burden of finding a storage place for his bike, and from having to repair break-owns. I've written about Vélib in an earlier post (in French).

There's been a lot of ink spilled on bicycles and safety. In the Vélib system's first year, three cyclists suffered fatal accidents. Many comments, including from the police, assumed that the cyclists were riding dangerously, putting their freedom before the rules of the road. Yet the cyclists weren't delivering messages or takeout, riding at high speed; they were middle-aged women, seemingly riding normally, struck by trucks or buses.

A short piece in Le Parisien (in French) discussed improvements set to mark Vélib's first birthday. Sandwiched between some repair and durability points, the article mentioned that the cycles would include specific warning stickers, pointing out the danger of riding in the blind spot of truck drivers.

This is an encouraging development, but I'm hoping for a fuller, open discussion of bicycle safety in Paris. It's important to note that, where fatalities have been suffered, the victim may not have been driving unsafely. And it's tragic that the drivers involved may have literally been unable to see cyclists in their vehicle's blind spot.