Global Cycling Community Rallies to Support Brazilian Cyclists

Virtually everyone that forwarded footage of the awful scenes of a car plowing into a crowd of cyclists in Brazil this week prefaced their message by saying “if you can get to the end of this…” or “this is grim watching”; it is pretty grim and it’s a miracle that no-one was killed. The sense of outrage in response to this is growing internationally – regardless of what you might think of critical mass rides in your community this was clearly unjustified and senseless behavior by the driver and – and there’s a petition and more information available here: massacriticapoa.wordpress.com www.bicicletada.org.

My colleague Jeff Peel noted that the video dramatically illustrates the frailty of cyclists in the face of such aggression and the impact of such a callous disregard for the safety of others – we hope that everyone who gets behind the wheel of a car who sees this will realize how a moment’s distraction or inattention can have just as disastrous an impact.

We also hope that the reaction to this incident shows the emerging power and strength of the global cycling community in responding to such an egregious act – it might even be on the agenda of those attending the Velo City conference in Seville later this month.

On Monday São Paulo’s advocates organized a walk through Paulista Avenue (the main avenue in São Paulo) in solidarity for their friends in Porto Alegre. Many other cities are doing similar walks.

Additionally, Prosecutors Eugenio Amorim and Lucia Callegari said in a statement Tueday, that they have asked for the preventive detention of Ricardo Jose Neis on charges of attempted homicide. The statement was posted on the Web site of the prosecutor’s office of Rio Grande do Sul state.