Eva Bohdalova
from "The Repubblica.it" In the name of Eva
the revolt of the urban cyclists
He was returning home from work by bike, killed in Rome to the Forum Imperial. A candlelight vigil and protest. "40% of road deaths is not in auto"
Cecilia GENTILE
ROME - The last named Eva, was returning home by bicycle. Hit by a taxi to the Imperial Forums. In his name, was a tam-tam web. It must be remembered that way and do not die in vain. A candlelight vigil becomes a form of pressure.
In Italy 352 cyclists died per year, almost one a day. Those who take the bike to get around town life in danger. It is not enough to do a favor to his fellow citizens by freeing up valuable space and moving cars pollution free. Pay your choice with constant exposure to danger. Pedestrians and cyclists account for 40% of the total casualties in road accidents in the city. One thing that differs us from light years' Europe, where the percentage is 20%.
"It is not the fault of the bicyclist - said Edward Galatola, Head of Security for the fairy tale, the Friends of the Italian Cycling Federation - Who's going to die in bicycle speed uncontrolled machines. It 's the speed the big problem of urban spaces, there are no rules or adequate controls. "
Today in Rome, cyclists, and not only manifest in a candlelight vigil to commemorate the Roman Forum Bohdalova Eva, 28 years. Travolta and killed the night between 29 and 30 October on his way home from work by bike. "We want justice and truth," says tam tam bloggers and associations, which again demand "measures no longer put off for the safety of cyclists and pedestrians. "
" Cyclists, as pedestrians - says Eugenio Galli, president of fairy tale-Ciclobby Milan - are little more than guests in the urban landscape, where only machines. The cars take up space that they do not compete: slides for the disabled, bike paths, sidewalks, pedestrian spaces. Invest cyclists behind him, as seems to have happened to Eve. And the investment behind it can not exactly avoid.
But you can take precautions, such as lights and reflective vests. But the big problem is the restoration of the rules, which means weaker than users: cyclists, pedestrians, elderly and children. In the city there is no space for them. "
Other figures: 14,535 cyclists injured in 2007, 20,525 pedestrians.
"And we're careful - adds Paul Bellino, one of the busiest in the network of Roman Ciclofficina and critical mass - this emergency does not end with bike lanes. The machinery must first of all
slow, must give way to bicycles , which are a component of urban traffic. " "It takes a mix of measures - includes Galatola - 30 speed zones, traffic calming measures and cycle routes. Where speed exceeds 30 km / h is a separation of flows".
In Italy the percentage of cycling is stuck at 4%. In the Netherlands is 25%. The European Charter for sustainable mobility requires cities to achieve at least 15% share of total displacements. There is a reason. "If you get to 15% in bicycle accidents begin to fall - explains Galatola -
because the machines get used to their presence on the street and the speed regime change."
is a bit 'the principle of Critical Mass, a critical mass of cyclists who ride once a month in the city: "We do not block the traffic, we are traffic."
(November 6, 2009)
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