Can You Steer After One Beer?

Congress is considering commendable but long-overdue legislation to crack down on drunk drivers, which kills and injures many people every year in Colombia - and frequently go unpunished. And alcohol unquestionably kills and injures many cyclists - Mio newspaper reports that 15 cyclists have died so far this year because of drunk riding, and 43 were injured while pedaling under the influence. Undoubtedly, those numbers are only a fraction of the real toll, and that many more bicyclists have been killed and injured by drunk drivers. (Tragically, drunk drivers often get off with light punishments or none at all, even when they kill people, because of corruption or a general belief that drunkenness is all in good fun, and that whatever one does while drunk is forgiveable.) 

What strikes me as unwise and unrealistic about this law, particularly for cyclists, is the very low threshold to be legally inebriated, which the newspaper says can be violated by drinking only a single beer or a beer and a half. Whether that's a reasonable limit for car drivers, I can't say. But it sure seems low for cyclists, which move much slower than cars and pose much less danger for pedestrians and others. Getting caught could mean a fine of 850,000 pesos, or close to $500.000 - a lot of money for cyclists, who generally are poor or lower middle class. 

In any case, the legislation will have a tough time passing: A congresswoman who advocates for victims of drunk driving recently charged that many of her colleagues don't want to crack down on drunk driving because they do it themselves.   

Cyclists risk their lives in Bogotá's chaotic traffic even when they're not drunk. 

by Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Bogotá Bike Fatalities

According to a report the other day in El Tiempo newspaper bicycle (and motorcycle) fatalities have risen dramatically. As for motorcyclists - well, they are crazy. Most of the city's motorcyclists are messengers. Combine the qualities of a risk-taking personality with the power of a big motor between the thighs and lots of deadlines, and there's no surprise that lots of them skid out and smash into other vehicles.

Many cyclists, of course, also ignore traffic laws. But since all they've got is leg power instead of horse power at their command, they're much less capable of doing themselves or others harm. Rather, I see many cyclists endangered by those rushing taxis and motorcycles which run stop signs and red lights and turn right across cross walks, taking for granted that pedestrians and cyclists will rush out of their way.

Still, there's a big asterisk by the bike fatalities stats: Between January and August 2009 four cyclists were killed on Bogotá streets, which shot up to 12 deaths this year. That is tragic and worrisome. But, in a city of eight million, numbers like 4 and 12 might not be statistically significant.

Nevertheless, there are some basic things which transit authorities ought to do. For a start, they could actually enforce basic traffic laws like stopping at stop signs. Wait at any Bogotá intersection and you'll see car after car, and particularly taxis, sailing past stop signs - even in pedestrian-heavy neighborhoods like La Candelaria. Inevitably, there are lots of car-car collisions and deaths of pedestrians and cyclists are also inevitable.

Another factor is the nation's failure to punish drunk drivers - even those who kill people - despite a law passed last year supposed to impose real punishments for drunk driving.

Another step is to use the media and the law to give pedestrians and bicyclists priority in traffic - as they have in just about every other country in the world.

By Mike Ceaser of Bogotá Bike Tours

License to Drive = License to Kill?

Ten years ago, Fabián Rolando Méndez ran over and killed a cyclist.

On April 10 of this year, driving his truck drunk, Mendéz crashed into a woman and three girls, injuring all of them, two of the girls severely.

Today, after two months in prison, Méndez, of the city of Bucaramanga, is back on the street. The lawyer representing the victims said: "Mr. Mendez didn't want to injure, or much less kill, these girls. It was an accident."

And Mendéz did apologize - so, we should feel sorry for him. After all, how many drivers have the bad luck to have four pedestrians and a cyclist get in their way in only a dead - especially when they are driving drunk, and so have limited control. The pedestrians should have known better. 

Sarcasm aside, a judge reduced Mendez's charges, so that he's now out of jail, even though at least two of his maimed victims are still in the hospital, having reconstructive surgery.

Ask yourself: If Mr. Mendez had been using a chainsaw, a gun, a hammer or a knife and gotten drunk and injured four people, after having killed one person the same way, would they have called it an accident? 

What about if Mendez had been a taxi driver or construction worker, instead of a member of a prominent family, and ex-director of the city's Sports and Recreation Institute?

What if Mendéz's victim had been driving an expensive truck himself?

But, when the weapon is a car or truck and the person wielding it is influential and the victims simple pedestrians or cyclists, then killing or maiming are evidently forgiveable mistakes in Colombia.

Méndez's crime moved local residents to march through Bucaramanga demanding justice for the injured woman and girls.  There's even a Facebook group demanding that Mendéz pay for what he did.

This blog written by Mike Ceaser, of Bogota Bike Tours