Braga is one of the cities where the ‘National Manifestation – Stop Trampling’ will take place, convened by the Portuguese Federation of Cycling and Bicycle Users (FPCUB).
The demonstration is scheduled for this Thursday, at 19:00, in Praça da República, next to the Fountain on Avenida Central.
Bicycle associations demand urgent road safety measures and awareness campaigns from the government in order to put an end to road accidents, after a young woman died in Lisbon last week.
In a statement, the Association for Urban Mobility on Bicycles (MUBI) recalled that the Government still does not respond to the recommendations determined by the Assembly of the Republic, about a year and a half ago, which indicated the adoption of measures to reduce road risk on road vulnerable users.
According to MUBI, the recommendations aimed at the creation of an inter-ministerial working group, the reinforcement of education and awareness actions for road citizenship and protection of users, intensification of road inspection of dangerous behaviors and collaboration with municipalities for the creation of more reduced speed zones in Portuguese cities.
In the civic appeal, with the name “Stop running over 2020”, MUBI also referred that the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR) remains “submerged in the obsolete paradigm of dependence on excessive use of the car”.
According to the association, ANSR has insisted on campaigns to blame the victims and not want to combat road risk with the excessive use of individual motorized transport and dangerous driving behaviors.
The Portuguese Federation of Cycling and Bicycle Users (FPCUB) also considered that the Government cannot “ignore what is happening”, warning that “people continue to die” on the roads.
“Not only do we consider that the Government can act, taking road safety measures and information and awareness campaigns combined with a tight inspection of compliance with the Highway Code, but also the municipalities themselves can and should invest in safe infrastructure, in parallel with measures traffic calming, whenever justified, ”he said.
Noting risky behavior on the roads, the FPCUB appeals to civic awareness and warns that humanist measures are taken.
“Traffic calming is urgent, both in and outside cities, as well as speed enforcement. But above all we need to realize that speed kills […]”, He noted.
On Thursday, about two dozen organizations, civic and collective movements of bicycle users participate in a vigil, at 7 pm, in Campo Grande, next to the Lisbon City Hall building, where a 16-year-old boy was run over, last week while on a bicycle.
According to FPCUB, vigils in Aveiro, Braga, Évora, Faro, Guarda, Lisbon, Porto and Santarém are also scheduled for the same time.
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