Transito de Sao Paulo

Traffic Jam in Sao Paulo

Relato de um leitor do blog:
As told by a reader:

Hoje pela manha, dirigindo a caminho do trabalho, eu tentei mudar de faixa no perimetro urbano de Sao Paulo e foi ai que tudo comecou. Dei a seta e ao embicar o carro na outra faixa, um motorista inconsequente acelerou e não me deixou entrar. Fiquei parado no "corredor" das motos e como sabia que ouviria algumas buzinadas, fiquei olhando pelo retrovisor. Não demorou muito: veio um motoqueiro e em questão de milésimos de segundos, senti a colisão. Como um cardume de piranhas, os outros "solidários" motoqueiros me rodiaram e começaram a fazer aquela pressão... A sorte é que o motoqueiro envolvido no acidente não teve nenhum ferimento grave, somente uma pancada na canela e panturrilha, tentou acalmar os ânimos dos outros. Perguntei se ele queria chamar o resgate e ele disse que não, que se chamassemos o resgate a cada colisão de moto, teriamos que ter mais ambulancias do que carros em SP.

O transito nos ultimos anos, tem sido o maior causador de mortes de jovens entre 18 e 30 anos, direta e indiretamente, pois os que não morreram num acidente, atropelado ou numa briga de transito, tem sido vítima do stress que ele causa! Numa cidade como essa, onde tudo é para ontem, todos com muita pressa, e o transito que em nada ajuda, qual a solução, queridos leitores? O que fazer para não ser mais uma vítima do transito?

Today in the morning, driving to my work, I tried to change lanes, and then everything happened. I signaled and when I tried to change lanes, another driver accelerated and didn't let me in, blocking my way. I was literally in the "motorcycle corridor"***, and since I knew people would start honking the horn, I was watching carefully through the mirror to see if some bikes were coming. It didn't take too long: an insane biker came, not paying attention, and colided against my car. Like a shoal of piranhas, the other bikers joined in, pressuring me, as if I was a negligent, careless driver. Luckily, the biker who hit me, didn't have any major injuries, tried to calm the others down. I asked if he wanted to go to the hospital but he said no. If we called the ambulance for every bike collision, we would have to have more ambulances than cars in SP.

In the past years, traffic has been the biggest killer of young people between the ages of 18 and 30, directly and indirectly. The ones who were not killed in a car accident or hit by a car or in a traffic fight, were killed by the stress that it causes. In a city like this, where everything is for yesterday, everybody is in a hurry and traffic is a growing problem, what is the solution dear readers? What can we do for there not to be another victim?

*** If you are not from SP, or not from Brazil, "motorcycle corridor" is the space in between the cars in two lanes, where bikers can go through (pictures below). There was a huge debate between car drivers and bikers, because often bikers would kick cars or harass the drivers if they were blocking this corridor. A new law passed and now bikers are allowed to use this lane, which caused a comotion.