MEXICO CITY—A drunk driver plowed through a group of Christian cyclists on a pilgrimage to a prominent church in Mexico City on Sunday morning, injuring 12. The tragedy came just days before Mexico intends to vote on a major road safety law that’s been years in the making.
The group of cyclists were riding together on route to Mexico’s famed Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe when a car crashed into at least 12 of them from behind before running into a pole. Brutal video of the accident shows the devotees of the Virgin of Guadalupe riding in the furthest right hand lane of the massive eight lane thoroughfare that connects the southern tip of Mexico City to the center of the metropolis when the car swerved directly into them. It appears the group had an automobile with flashing lights following behind them to protect the cyclists from exactly this kind of catastrophe, but to no avail. Photos showed injured cyclists in matching shirts being tended to on the side of the road. They all survived.
Videos by VICE
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum quickly appeared at the scene of the accident to aid the victims and later confirmed in a tweet that the driver was indeed inebriated on a Sunday morning.
“Those responsible have been arrested,” said Sheinbaum. “I’ve asked the prosecutor’s office to apply the full force of the law. We are taking care of the victims and families.”
The driver was arrested at the site of the crash, as well as the person in the passenger seat who reportedly tried to flee the scene of the crime.
Road safety in Mexico for cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists has been a longstanding issue in the country. In 2018, the World Health Organization released a report that claimed Mexico had the seventh deadliest streets in the world, and that roughly 40 people die in traffic daily.
Areli Carreón, co-founder of an organization called Bicitekas that has spearheaded many pro-cycling initiatives in Mexico City, said that the tragic collision “isn’t an accident. It’s the consequence of not having a clear public policy to prevent [road accidents].”
Mexico’s road safety regulations and monitoring systems lack basic oversight and enforcement that are common in many developed countries, according to the WHO report. For example, Mexico does not have nationally standardized drivers license tests, nor a database that records people’s accident history and traffic violations. Many drivers obtained permits without being properly tested, or simply drive without a licence.
Carreón and activists from across the country have been pushing for six years to pass a federal law which would make road safety a national priority, and create guidelines that enforce regulations throughout the country. The General Road Safety Law is set to be voted on in the Senate before the current session ends on Dec. 15. But previous deadlines have been passed and the vote suspended, so the passing of the law is not a done deal.
But Carreón is optimistic that it will pass before the upcoming deadline, and said that Sunday’s accident is a sad reminder for legislators of the importance of the law.
“It [the danger of accidents] is exactly what we are saying every day to each legislator, each decision maker in all of the states that our Safe Mobility coalition has a presence,” said Carreón.
While the General Road Safety Law does not instantly change regulations across the country, it creates a policy framework with oversight that each state would need to incorporate that focuses on many issues including improving infrastructure like adding bike lanes, traffic and drunk driving enforcement, and upgrading vehicle insurance requirements.
The vote comes after bike use in Mexico City has increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Carreón said that from the statistics she’s seen, there has been a 200 percent increase as people have moved away from the city’s crowded bus and subway system.
This month’s potential vote could be the most important win for road safety yet, said Carreón.
“One of the reasons why I have put a lot of energy into this is precisely because it scares me [to ride my bike],” said Carreón. “But I can’t live like this. I refuse to live in fear, I will not tolerate it. And so I have worked to conquer [unsafe roads] so that one day we have the freedom to go out freely to the streets.”
