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A Dangerous Journey - Transport, Education and Safety
by Gregorio Villacorta Alegría
María makes a journey every day on her little bicycle, which was given to her by her cousin who lives in Lima City. María lives in a small village in the Southern Zone of Peru called Tarata.
She has to ride her “bici” [bike] (the term the children use to describe their intermediate means of transport), for 20 minutes to get to her school.
She gets up religiously at 5 in the morning to help her mum to prepare lunch for her and her brothers and sisters, and then she sets off on her bike and heads for school. The pity of it is that there are thousands of children like her, from rural villages in Peru, who use the motorways on a daily basis as the most convenient means of getting around. However, from a safety perspective, these children are potential victims, likely to be run over or involved in accidents, as these are not roads that were designed to be used by cyclists or pedestrians.
Owing to a lack of resources there are no separate cycle lanes on inter-provincial roads throughout Peru. Roads are designed for motor vehicles only and do not take into account that rural inhabitants along the route will also become users of these roads and will use them in their daily lives, abandoning their usual tracks and paths. As a result many boys and girls lose their lives on our roads.These limitations in rural transport, with respect to road safety and mobility, are obstacles to a more rapid attainment of one of the Millennium Development Goals - achieving Universal Primary Education.
María is happy on her bike, but what can we do to ensure that she is both happy and safe?
This opinion piece was contributed by Gregorio Villacorta Alegría
Contact: goyotech[at]yahoo.es
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