Mexico City Tackles Cycling and Motorcycle Risks and Safety
Mexico City's growing popularity of bicycles and motorcycles for commuting creates traffic chaos and safety concerns. Lack of education and respect for traffic laws among cyclists and motorcyclists is blamed for the rise in accidents.
The use of bicycles and motorcycles in Mexico City to travel to work, school or deliver food, for example, has increased recently and generates new problems for urban mobility, said the academic from the Institute of Engineering (II) from UNAM, José Antonio Olvera Andrade.
The Transportation Engineering specialist commented that consequently the number of accidents between cyclists and motor vehicles has increased, mainly due to the lack of greater road education.
However, according to the Ministry of Mobility of Mexico City, from 2002 to date, important progress has been made in cycling infrastructure, on main and secondary roads, to integrate public transport nodes with connection for these users.
Likewise, cycle paths, cycle lanes or lanes shared with public transport have been built, in addition to recreational trails, bicycle parking lots and the so-called Ecobici cycle stations.
However, Olvera Andrade stated that these efforts are basically concentrated in the center of the city, which does not solve the mobility problem in the periphery, where the risks of accidents are still latent.
During the second cycle of talks with experts: Chiaroscuros of urban mobility, an interdisciplinary approach, organized by the University Program of City Studies (PUEC), of the UNAM, he stated:
Statistical information on the number and type of events recorded between cyclists and motor vehicles is incomplete, limited and fragmented, which prevents adequate analysis to carry out the correct update of traffic regulations or improvements in the mobility policy that they consider these new realities.
The deficiencies in public transportation, as well as the increasingly severe road congestion, have contributed to the significant increase in the use of these means of transportation, he added.
Olvera Andrade pointed out that after pedestrians, cyclists are among the most vulnerable population when traveling through the metropolis, and the fact that in some areas road improvements have been made to improve the infrastructure for them, has not necessarily translated into minor accidents due to collision, fall and run over.
Based on information available in different sources, he pointed out, from 2018 to 2022, the Cuauhtémoc mayor's office ranked first in the number of trips and accidents between motorized vehicles, followed by Iztapalapa, Benito Juárez, Miguel Hidalgo and Gustavo A. Madero.
It is notable that the youngest population, 25 to 34 years old, is the one with the most injuries or deaths, followed by the 15 to 24-year-old range.
The above could be related to the cyclist's way of driving: if he does not use the infrastructure on the roads, he does not drive with minimal protection such as a helmet, or he drives at excessive speed or recklessly. They often demand that right and want to gain that ground in the arteries, but unfortunately, there is no training or regulation so that they know their obligations and rights.
In order for the use of this means of transportation to be a real alternative that contributes to improving mobility in cities, the first thing is to reduce the number of accidents, for which the driving test must be mandatory as an essential requirement to obtain the driving license.
Likewise, implement innovative public policies that go beyond imposing fines, focused on strengthening a true culture of road safety education.
When speaking, Francisco Javier Granados Villafuerte, also an academic from the II, referred to the increase in the use of motorcycles and indicated that it is a phenomenon that responds to the new mobility needs of the population, given which we have to adapt to and update the traffic regulations.
The main problem is that the majority of drivers do not know or do not respect the rule, drive at excess speed and cause a serious increase in the number of road accidents, he emphasized.
“There have been important updates to the traffic regulations, specifically for those who ride motorcycles, particularly regarding the use of helmets, the ban on minors or speed limits, but if the government does not enforce these modifications, any regulations will be a dead letter.”
