In São Paulo, motorcycles circulate on sidewalks, among pedestrians, and run red lights. — Photo: Globo/ Reproduction
In traffic-choked cities, motorcyclists have become indispensable. They connect companies to customers and transport products that need to reach their destination quickly. But experts warn that no delivery is worth the risk.
Flagrants recorded in different capitals show dangerous traffic practices.
In São Paulo, motorcycles circulate on sidewalks, among pedestrians, and run red lights. In Rio de Janeiro, there are records of prohibited turns, motorbikes going the wrong way and even a motorcyclist typing on his cell phone while crossing the Rio-Niterói Bridge.
In Recife and the metropolitan region, many motorcyclists use sidewalks as if they were streets. In one of the recorded cases, a motorcycle carrying two people collides with a car leaving the garage, hits a tree and also hits two other motorcycles.
In Belo Horizonte and Salvador, motorcyclists were also caught using pedestrian walkways to cut off paths.
Speeding is the most common offense among motorcyclists in the country's two largest cities.
In the city of São Paulo, the number of fines for traveling above the permitted speed increased by 51% in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year. In Rio de Janeiro, the increase was 23%.
Motorcyclists say that the rush to meet delivery deadlines helps explain this behavior.
"We on two wheels... hey, we take food here, we take food there, and that's how it goes, you know, bro", says motorbike driver Sidney dos Santos.
Jader Generoso, who works with deliveries for e-commerce platforms, also points out the pressure for productivity.
"There's a certain amount of time to deliver. If you don't deliver, it gets complicated, understand?"
The motorcycle is the most vulnerable vehicle in motorized traffic. From January to August this year, 334 motorcyclists died in the city of São Paulo. It is the highest number recorded for this period since 2015.
Of the 673 people killed in traffic accidents in the capital of São Paulo, almost half were on motorcycles.
According to Antônio Meira, president of the Brazilian Association of Traffic Medicine (Abramet), motorcyclists face conditions that significantly increase risks.
"The vulnerability of motorcyclists is such that their lethality in accidents is 17 times greater than that of car occupants (...) and the degree of trauma, we have seen that, the higher the speed, the greater the severity and the greater the chance of causing death".
Gabriel has no doubt that excessive speed was decisive for the severity of the accident he suffered and which resulted in the amputation of both legs.
That day, he had planned to go to a barbecue with friends.
"I'm going to go ahead here to get there faster, okay? Okay. I went. I was slipping, cutting everything, speed bumps. Red light, I passed everything", he remembers.
Richard Soares also admits that he traveled fast when returning home with a friend.
"We skidded in the wrong direction and a bus was coming. Unfortunately, my friend died right there. I passed under the bus, the motorbike caught fire, burned me, and I passed out."
Road safety experts say that it is necessary to invest in education and inspection to reduce the number of accidents.
For Ana Carolina Nunes, director of the Cidade a Pé association, educational campaigns need to be accompanied by effective inspection actions.
"The campaign can serve to raise awareness, but it will not necessarily be enough to change behavior. Inspection is a form of traffic education as well."
Before the accidents, Gabriel worked as a painter and Richard as a sushi chef. Today, the two face a long rehabilitation process and uncertainty about the future.
"I still tell my friends, because I have a lot of friends who still ride motorcycles: be careful. Know what you're doing. If you have love in your life, right... I almost lost mine."
