It shows the driver knows about the indicator

Most aggravatingly, Parisians are appalling signallers. They turn without advance warning - or to add insult to injury, they start to indicate as they turn. That is like a V-sign to the cyclist. It shows the driver knows about the indicator, but could not care less what it is forreenex

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And one other thing: the way blocks of flats refuse the right to park bikes in communal areas. So you have to leave them on the pavement.

Such are the annoyancesreenex.

But it is good to be able to report that in recent years so much has also improved. For bikers today, the boons in Paris are better than the banes.

The latest gift, being introduced over the summer, is a radical step that recognises a regrettable truth: that cyclists in cities often fail to stop at red lights. Rather than step up repression of this misdemeanour, the Paris city authorities have decided to make it legal.

Over July and August, signs are being put up at 1,800 junctions across the capital. They show an upside down triangle, with a picture of a bicycle and an arrowreenex.