SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – The number of cyclists killed in the city of São Paulo increased 69 percent in the first six months of the year compared to the same period last year. The data are from Infosiga, which provides monthly information on fatal traffic occurrences, and were released by the Government of the State of São Paulo.
Below is the number of cyclists killed in the first half of each year
2019: 22
2018: 13
2017: 21
2016: 12
2015: 15
According to Infosiga, 95 percent of cyclists killed in 2019 were men, and all fatalities were on roads with no cycle paths or bike lanes.
Alberto Francisco Sabbag, a physician with the Brazilian Association of Traffic Medicine, says the number of cyclists has increased in recent years. According to data from the Origem e Destino do Metrô (“Metropolitan Origin and Destination”) survey, there was a 24 percent increase over ten years in São Paulo’s capital.
In January, a bus ran over a group of 28 cyclists on Rodovia dos Bandeirantes, near Pirituba, São Paulo’s North Zone.
In the state of São Paulo, the number of fatal accidents dropped two percent in the first half compared to the same period in 2018. In all, from January to July, 2,593 people died in accidents on São Paulo’s streets and roads — an average of over fourteen deaths per day.