Wait five minutes standing for a car to stop. Look at the traffic lights to know when to cross on foot. Thank the driver for finally letting you pass. These are some of the situations that unconsciously repeat themselves in Mexico City, a megacity of more than 9 million inhabitants where the driver is the king of the road. A capital where pedestrian infrastructure is lacking and driving licenses are obtained without testing is a reflection of a country where seven out of ten road deaths come from the most vulnerable sector: pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.
The traffic rules of the Mexico City government clearly state who has priority when using public roads: first, pedestrians, especially people with disabilities and reduced mobility; and secondly, cyclists. The fact that it is not respected is due to the fact that in the capital you do not have to pass exams to get a driving license. For Bosco Martí, president of the Aleatica Foundation for Road Safety, this is one of the reasons why the rules are not known: “In Mexico, unlike other countries, the issuance of the driving license is a right, more than a privilege.”
An accident in March 2017 in which a cyclist who was run over was killed.Luis Carbayo (CUARTOSCURO)
The price of a three-year driving license to drive cars is 989 pesos. In several driving schools consulted by EL PAÍS, six hours of driving practice – not compulsory – cost around 2,350 pesos. Eduardo Fernández has been an activist on the Peatones Primero platform since 2012. His opinion is a little more extreme than Marti’s: “The only requirements a person has to meet to get their license is to go through a process where you provide some information, pay the fee, have your photo taken and that’s it . “It must be a global disgrace.”
Not knowing the rules poses risks for pedestrians. “It can’t be right that there are so many dangerously ignorant people running around with super-powerful cars that weigh more than a ton,” explains Fernández. For the President of the Aleatica Foundation it is almost a cultural issue: “It is important to change the culture. First, we were dealing with a driver who had not completed a driving course, who was probably taught to drive by a family member, but who had no professional training. “We need respect for the most vulnerable road users.”
The other big problem with not being able to calmly cross a street is the lack of infrastructure that favors pedestrians. Fernández believes that the roads “will allow cars to move easily.” The main proposal of Peatone’s Primero is the redesign of the streets. “Speed bumps and narrower lanes make it much easier for drivers to stop,” explains the activist.
Men carry their bicycles across a pedestrian bridge in Ecatepec, a metropolitan area of Mexico City, in 2016. Dario Lopez Mills (AP)
Containment measures for cars must also be accompanied by facilities for pedestrians. For example, at the intersection between México-Tacuba Avenue and the Interior Circuit, in the office of the mayor of Miguel Hidalgo. There, pedestrians have no traffic lights for themselves and are guided by those of cars to know when to cross.
Sometimes excessive infrastructure influences. In the office of the mayor of Venustiano Carranza, the more than ten-lane avenue Fray Servando Teresa de Mier has a pedestrian bridge, under which a pedestrian crossing is also marked on the asphalt. Those who walk often do not climb the stairs of the bridge and decide to cross the 50 meters while watching for a car to pass.
Thousands of these contradictory situations are repeated throughout the city. However, more in the outer colonies than in the middle. “Better pedestrian infrastructure has been developed in the tourist center of the city. There is a higher risk for pedestrians outdoors,” explains Fernández.
Official data shows that there were 377,000 traffic accidents nationwide in Mexico in 2021, injuring 91,501 people and killing 5,181. One in ten was a pedestrian. The big problem is the decentralization of data, which is based on municipal records and often does not reflect real numbers. Before they were kept by the Ministry of Health, they are now published by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).
A cyclist at night in Mexico City, May 2020. Fernando Llano (AP)
The most consistent report in recent years was the report issued by the World Health Organization a few years ago, which ranked Mexico as the seventh country in the world with the most road deaths. The second leading cause of death in the country for people between the ages of 15 and 34. And seven out of ten of them were on foot, by bike or motorbike. The institution reported at the time that medical costs caused by accidents negatively impacted 3% of the country’s gross domestic product.
Marti believes that a “Road Safety Observatory in Mexico” should be created that will allow “all these problems to be recorded in a timely manner”. It is also not a member of the Ibero-American Road Safety Observatory, which includes nine Latin American countries in addition to Andorra and Spain, but does not include states heavily affected by accidents such as Peru, Bolivia and Mexico.
The president of the Aleatica Foundation also advocates adding a points system to driver’s licenses that penalizes drivers for violations. “In Spain, traffic accidents were reduced by 16% after the first ten months of the system coming into force. In Japan, deaths fell by 30% after five years.”
Eduardo Fernández believes that greater demand is needed from those who travel on foot. “Pedestrians should know what their rights are. “We have been used to cars having priority for generations.” Pedestrians have to demand their rights at every traffic light and at every priority step, said the activist: “The speech must be: ‘We are here.’” And we demand our rights as well from the authorities as well as from the driver standing in front of me.’”
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