Motorcycles already leading cause of accidents in Brazil

Accidents involving motorcycles are already the leading cause of traffic accidents in Brazil, surpassing running over pedestrians. According to the National Traffic Department, the country had a fleet of 23 million motorcycles in 2014. "There was a huge expansion in the motorcycle fleet in the last ten years in the country and today riders are the main victim of traffic," noted doctor Fernando Moreira, traffic medicine expert.

He said that, in many cities, it is common to find people riding their motorbikes without helmets, closed shoes, and a driver's license. "In some areas in the countryside, 60% to 70% of people do not have a license to ride motorbikes and do not know anything about traffic laws. Historically, the pedestrian has suffered more in traffic, now it's the motorcyclist," reported the doctor.

"We have seen an enormous growth in the number of paraplegia, quadriplegia and people with spinal cord or limb injuries due to the misuse of motorbikes," announced Moreira, who is used to witnessing cases of severe fractures in riders without protective equipment.

"Being the world's biggest killer due to traffic accidents, Brazil has to change its attitude. We have to create a task force, as France has done, so that we have a systemic model of care," suggested José Mauro Lima, representative of the Brazilian Red Cross. The entity defends a program based on five steps: information, education, awareness, surveillance, and punishment.

According to the World Health Organization, 1.3 million people die around the world each year in traffic accidents. In Brazil, the Red Cross declared there are 50,000 annual deaths and 500,000 wounded people, which represents 25 deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants.

Translated by Amarílis Anchieta

Relacionadas

Traffic-related accidents and deaths down in 2014