Word: lib
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...released figures indicate that around 11,600 of the bicycles have been trashed, slashed, battered, brutalized and even drowned in the Seine since the program began; 7,800 others have been stolen. Just as bad, some cyclists have even begun broadcasting Internet videos of themselves engaged in "Vélib free rides" or "extreme Vélib'," in which wannabe urban daredevils put the solid but graceless bikes through punishing stunts usually reserved for BMX or mountain bikes...
...Unfortunately, that reflects the mind-set of a lot of Vélib' riders, who think riding someone else's property whenever the mood takes them means they can ignore the rules of the road and act like jerks," says Nathalie Dubois, a 45-year-old medical worker who has been riding her own bike in Paris for over a decade. "Nine times out of 10, when you see someone breaking road laws or just being obnoxious on a bike, they're on a Vélib...
...While the proliferation of bicycles in Paris has created a new form of pushy and irresponsible behavior rivaling that of the city's motorists, it may not, in fact, be true that the worst two-wheeled offenders are usually Vélib' renters - despite the statistics that suggest as much. The number of Paris accidents involving cyclists has exploded 37.2% since the scheme was introduced, surging from 506 crashes in 2006 to nearly 700 in 2007 (including three Vélib' rider deaths that year; there were four in 2008). However, that surging accident rate is largely accounted...
...Accusations and countercharges over whether the Vélib' program has imperiled safety will probably continue for some time, especially since the criticism of Vélib' riders is partially based on the in-crowd snobbery of private-bike owners. Still, even Vélib' adepts admit they've earned some of their bad reputation...
...lib' either for fun or to get somewhere fast, so you're not thinking too much about rules, which most of us don't know anyway," says a Vélib' cyclist who gives his name only as Lolo after being stopped by a pedestrian for riding on the sidewalk - and in the wrong direction - on the one-way Rue des Archives in central Paris...