Brazil is the only country in the world where pedestrians are honked at when they decide to cross the road. This happened to me today, and I can say that it was quite revolting.
In São Paulo specifically, a city made for the circulation of cars and not pedestrians, it is not surprising that they do not have any advantage. Our sidewalks are literally falling apart, with huge holes that could even seriously hurt someone. If there is any investment in this sense, it is in the "noble" areas, for example, on Rua Oscar Freire, in Jardins, where the renovation of the sidewalks was partially sponsored by the shopkeepers themselves and private companies.
Very lenient laws also lead to traffic abuses. Last month, a deranged idiot deliberately ran over 15 cyclists in Porto Alegre. The accident triggered a wave of protests across the country – in São Paulo, two companies carried out an action yesterday in Parque do Povo, which consisted of distributing stickers for cars (image above).
The same company is expected to carry out similar actions in Rio and Porto Alegre in the coming weeks. On Saturday, I witnessed another action, this time involving naked cyclists who paraded through the streets of Vila Madalena. In an ironic and fun way, they protested against recent cases of intolerance in traffic.
Unfortunately, it is not just in cities that this intolerance is causing deaths. On the roads, 213 people died during the last Carnival – the number means an increase of 47,9% compared to the same period in 2010, when 143 deaths were recorded.
These numbers reveal a national tragedy. Greater traffic awareness and tougher laws are needed to punish bad drivers. As anthropologist Roberto da Matta argues, the lack of traffic education is a reflection of distorted behaviors in Brazilian society. I would add that, in addition, our transit shows how light years we are from so-called civilized nations.
