Motorists conflict with cyclists, truck drivers with motorcyclists, and all of them together conflict with pedestrians. If you say that the police in Paris are more tolerant of road and street violations, that would be incorrect, and yet such a feeling arises, for example, among residents of Strasbourg, Berlin, or Amsterdam, where cyclists and pedestrians behave more responsibly, and the police are less tolerant.
Statistics partially provide an answer to this question, showing that in the first months of the year in France, the number of road accidents involving motorcyclists increased by 9.4%, and cyclists by 23.3%. At the same time, it must be taken into account that the number of those moving around the city on motor scooters and bicycles is constantly growing.
This is facilitated by the long-term policy of the Paris city hall, which seems to have set itself the task of driving motorists out of the city altogether. The city hall is succeeding, but new problems arise: bike paths, road markings, and most importantly – to teach (or rather, to accustom) cyclists to behave correctly on the streets, in accordance with traffic rules. Otherwise, the number of accidents involving cyclists will increase.
As reported by RFI (International French Radio), at the end of July, the Paris police (Direction de l’ordre public et de la circulation, DOPC) carried out a targeted raid. It conducts such raids from time to time to remind that it exists and that not everything is allowed on the streets. As a result, about a hundred violations by motorcyclists and cyclists were recorded, and five cyclists received a fine of 135 euros.
DOPC states that the number of bicycles in Paris in 2014 increased by 8%. The number of people moving around the city on bicycles currently accounts for 4% of total movements. This is both small and large compared to what it was about 20 years ago. Now Paris already has 700 kilometers of bike paths. In the coming years, the city hall plans to increase both the length of paths and the number of 'Vélib'.
Now about fines. The lowest is 11 euros – for a bicycle having faulty brakes and a non-working lighting bulb. A fine of 35 euros is issued for improper parking, for a cyclist holding onto a vehicle while moving, for riding two abreast on a path, for turning without signaling with a hand, for speeding (in this case, going too fast from the police's point of view).
135 euros is the fine for talking on the phone or riding with headphones, for ignoring a 'No Entry' sign, for riding on the sidewalk, for running a red light, and for riding under the influence.