By: Carlos Yepes A.
For a few years now, the sale of motorcycles has been growing exponentially in the country. According to official figures in Colombia today, an average of one motorcycle is sold every minute. This represents a social problem of mobility that grows every day with several edges in different cities of the country without Neiva being the exception.
Traffic regulations have been turned into a dead letter by motorcyclists, they do not respect traffic lights, much less schedules. The proliferation of workshops and the sale of spare parts for motorcycles violate more than one urban norm in the city, especially that of platforms. Juggling on motorcycles have taken to the streets during the day and at night and all this exceeds the possibility of control by the police and mobility authorities throughout the country.
The traffic lights in Neiva, apart from not working, are overlooked by the majority of motorcyclists in the city. It produces indignation to be waiting for the change to green at a traffic light in the vehicle and see how motorcycles parade by side and side with two or three people including children passing the traffic light at red, they do not care how important the intersection is where the law is being violated. norm, that is to say, you can find this situation in the center or the periphery of the city without the existence of authority or mechanism to sanction these citizens in an exemplary manner.
In the same way, circulation hours are not respected, motorcycles are seen with license plates and without them, with helmets and without helmets, with two or three people during the night and early morning. They are seen parked in front of liquor stores on the street and on the platforms, their gas tanks are filled overnight at gas stations and all this happens with the consent of all the authorities.
Mobility is affected above all in the fourth race in the area of workshops and spare parts warehouses. The public space was literally taken over, violating all existing regulations without the municipal authorities acting in any way. Perhaps they could think of relocating, for example, these activities in an area suitable for this purpose.
And lastly, it is striking how young people who, surely since they were children, have been subjected to transit hanging from their mothers’ arms on a motorcycle, are the ones who today, already familiar with high levels of adrenaline, are doing all kinds of “pirouettes” around the city and at night avenues such as Inés García de Durán are taken to carry out sprints and races, awakening that adrenaline rush that they have carried since they were children.
We are facing an evident social disorder, one thing to use motorcycles as a legitimate means of transportation and another is to put motorcycles as a disturbing element of the tranquility that ordinary citizens deserve. Given this situation, the municipal administration cannot go unnoticed and must take action on the matter. Let’s not even talk about the other municipalities, the chaos in charge of the motorcycles is total, that’s why I insist that on this issue we also need the Neivans of “an agreement to live better.” [email protected],com