1,400 pedestrians, almost four per day, were killed by Colombian traffic in 2011, Colombian police said Monday.
Colombian police told newspaper El Tiempo that “carelessness and irresponsibility” of the pedestrians themselves caused their death in half of the cases.
“What draws most attention is that the main cause of death for pedestrians has to do with an act of carelessness or irresponsibility; crossing the street without looking,” Colonel Alvaro Alvare told the newspaper.
Alexandra Rojas Lopera, director of a foundation aimed at accident prevention in traffic, also blamed a lack in infrastructure for pedestrians in Colombia’s major cities. “The sidewalks for example are not safe for pedestrians. A good number of them do not prevent that, in case of an accident, a vehicle enters the sidewalk and runs over pedestrians.”
Most fatal accidents, 280, took place in the capital Bogota. 175 were killed in Medellin and 118 in Cali.
According to Rojas Lopera’s Road Prevention Fund, nearly 5,000 Colombians died in traffic last year.