Woman, 37 years old, several months pregnant, researcher at the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), cyclist - the pandemic may have made her pedal more often. She died this Saturday, June 26, after a car collided with her bicycle from behind. The driver, allegedly a man of about 80 years old, failed to see the cyclist on the road because he was chained by the sun, causing the fatal outcome.
Patrizia Paradiso He was taking one of his usual bike rides. The collision occurred between Algés and Belém, in the Avenue of Indiaone of the arteries where the Lisbon City Hall planned to install in July of last year a bicycle path pop-up. The project of this bike path was even revealed, but was put on the back burner indefinitely.
Patrizia's death comes approximately one year after Ana Oliveira, basketball player for Sporting, 16 years oldwho was crossing a crosswalk (and also a bicycle crossing) in Campo Grande with his bicycle in hand. The case ended up generating a wave of solidarity unparalleled in Lisbon. Hundreds of people They blocked traffic in Campo Grande and, with or without bicycles, sat on the hot asphalt in silence. MUBi - Association for Urban Mobility on Bicycles released a statementthe Lisbon mobility councilman, Miguel Gaspar, wrote in Público about the city's commitment to a safer city. But one year later, what has changed?
Américo Silva, former professional cyclist, wants to help in the change and says will promote a collection of signatures to take the issue of road accidents and the vulnerability of cyclists and pedestrians to Parliament. "I will try to collect the required number of signatures" - said by e-mail to Lisboa Para Pessoas - “so that the State helps in the awareness of motorists to the new rules of the Highway Code and also in a greater enforcement and punishment for violators"..
Victim of an allegedly conscious collision by a car driver in Cascais at the end of May, Américo did not witness the accident that involved Patrizia. "When I arrived on the scene the police and ambulance were already there. I found a cyclist in a very serious condition."he reports. "One of the things that struck me was the violence of the crash and the car stopped about 25 yards past the victim's body." The photo that Americo took and that we use in this article ran the social networks, counting, at the time of this piece, with more than 320 shares and countless comments in several groups.
Rosa Félix, cycling mobility activist, also a researcher at IST, lamented the death of her colleague on your Facebook: "Putting people at different speeds together on the same channel ends up going wrong. You're not supposed to ride in fear on a bicycle. We need more safety, and care from those who grab a wheel. There's still a lot to be done, but nothing that's out of reach so there aren't more victims."
The Core Neighbors of Bethlehemfrom the residents' association Vizinhos em Lisboa (Neighbors in Lisbon), published a note of regret on its Facebook page. "It is, unfortunately, in tragic moments like this that we are reminded of the importance of intervening in our Waterfront (...)." The collective refers that the Avenida da Índia "it has been one of the road axes most discussed by Neighbors in several work meetings, namely with the Lisbon City Hall" e regrets that "humanization of that axis"a "old ambition"has been "systematically" postponed. "We will continue to advocate for safe conditions for everyone in our parish (and even in our city/county) in order to protect all vulnerable road users, whether in pedestrian, bicycle, road, or even coexisting channels."
In 2019, 26 bicycle users diedIn the same year, 106 people were seriously injured and 2104 were slightly injured. In that same year, 134 pedestrians lost their lives on Portuguese roadsMost of these were due to being run over by a car; 409 were seriously injured, and there were 5,180 minor injuries. The data are from Autoridade Nacional de Segurança Rodoviária (ANSR), which recorded a total of 35,704 claims in the year 2019 (pre-pandemic) - 78% of these occurred within localities and 75% involved light vehicles. 626 people lost their lives. Lisbon was the district with the most accidents and the most victims to mourn.
(article being updated)
