Producer Prices U.S. Decrease for First Time in Four Months
11 de maio de 2012Ações do Brasil Carinhoso começam a valer hoje
15 de maio de 2012Every week the emergency room at the Hospital das Clinicas in the University of São Paulo School of Medicine receives an average of eleven victims of motorcycle accidents. A worrisome statistic is that 35% of people riding motorbikes who die in traffic accidents are found to have been involved in substance abuse or were drinking in excess.
Dr Julia Greve, an orthopedist at the hospital, points out that while there has been a general reduction in traffic accidents in São Paulo, down 35% between 2008 and 2012, the number of accidents with motorbikes rose 14% during the same period. The victims of motorbike accidents now occupy around 60% of the beds in the hospital and Dr Greve says the institution is near the point of saturation. She goes on to say that the situation in São Paulo is critical because of cultural and behavioral factors that have made the city into a transportation beehive: with 11 million inhabitants, there are over 7 million vehicles. According to Dr Greve, the only solution is to change behavior, invest heavily in public transportation and create restrictions on the individual use of cars and motorbikes. She also insists on more rigorous punishment of drunken driving.
The traffic problem in São Paulo is so serious that the city held an international seminar on the subject last month with the participation of renowned experts from around the world: Gjerde Hallvard, from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Eugênia Maria Rodrigues, from the Pan-American Health Organization (“Opas”) and Chip Walls, from the Criminal Toxicology Laboratory at the University of Miami.
