Bikes in the public thoroughfare (2019)

 Bikes in streets and roads

Research carried out in Buenos Aires City, in June/ July 2019 based on a total amount of 1,766 observed bikes (working days, from 9 to 18hs):

 

  • * non-use of helmet 73%
  • * circulation against traffic 18%
  • * they don’t stop when traffic lights are red 87%
  • * they don’t have lights 74 %
  • * they don’t have reflective materials 47 %
  • * they don’t respect pedestrian priority 98 %
  • use cell phone and / or headphones 14%
  • they don’t signal with their arms before manoeuvring 99 %


*Conducts which are legally compulsory whose non-compliance endangers cyclists and/or other people’s lives or physical integrity, as well.

 

ESTIMATION OF MORTALITY IN ARGENTINA

Total amount of deaths in Argentina
(Luchemos por la Vida) in 2018: 7,274

We estimate that
6% of the dead people were cyclists, that is, 437.

 

Conclusions

     Figures show that most cyclists continue to ride their bikes without respecting basic traffic rules, not only regarding the circulation (traffic direction, stopping at red traffic lights, and so on), but also with regard to regulations about the vehicle to be able to circulate (lights, reflective materials) and, even though a small increase is observed in comparison with 2017, most of them don’t use helmets, posing serious risk for their lives, although it is compulsory by Law.

     There are three main factors that contribute to this serious situation:

  • -Lack of road safety education. Cyclists, like the rest of the population, have hardly received any kind of road safety education, not even to ride bikes. They don’t understand that, since they circulate along the road with a vehicle, they must, as drivers, know and respect traffic rules. And that they are, after pedestrians, the most vulnerable ones in the traffic system, which is aggravated by drivers of other kind of vehicles who neither respect cyclists’ rights nor take into account their fragility.
  • Lack of enforcement. If, in general, traffic is neglected by authorities who must enforce law, cyclists seem to be invisible for them. Bicycles are not object of control for traffic agents. This indifference strengthens among cyclists the belief that traffic rules are not for them. And it doesn’t help them internalize the respect for the rules concerning to their safety.  
  • Lack of adequate infrastructure: bike paths in Buenos Aires need to be improved in different aspects, and they are almost nonexistent in the surroundings. 

     There is a lack of traffic signals for cyclists. Besides, a lot of bike paths are blocked by parked cars, dumper trucks, and so on.