HOME > AFP-JIJI PRESS NEWS JOURNAL > Article
Cyclists hit Brazil's streets nude to display their vulnerability to traffic accidents
Helmeted or bare-headed -- and often wearing nothing else at all -- some 30 cyclists braved the rain in Sao Paulo, Latin America's largest metropolis, to sensitize motorists to their vulnerability on the road.
Most riders on Paulista Avenue, one of the busiest arteries in Brazil's economic capital, were in fact nude. Some, a bit more modestly, preferred wearing minimal underwear.
One rider wore a Russian-style chapka on his head and nothing else but the green paint that covered him from head to toe.
The group was taking part in what is called the Pedalada Pelada (Pedaling Bare), the Brazilian version of the World Naked Bike Ride movement.
We are naked on one of Latin America's biggest avenues, showing that we are vulnerable to the force, the violence of cars, Allis Bezerra, a bearded 41-year-old photographer, told AFP.
He added: This movement serves to demonstrate to society just how important we are. By using bikes as our means of transport, we take cars off the street that would be polluting the environment.
Andresa Aguida, a 43-year-old artist, had the message Sustainable Pedaling painted on her stomach before setting off, bare-breasted, on Paulista Avenue.
Motorists show us no respect when we are riding, she said. They honk and seem to be saying: 'Move or I'll run you down.'
Cyclists were hospitalized in more than 16,000 serious accidents in 2021 -- an average of 44 a day -- according to a study published last June by the Brazilian Association of Traffic Medicine, or Abramet.
Pedalada Pelada is planning its next clothing-optional demonstration next Saturday, this time on the streets of Rio de Janeiro.
(2023/03/14 16:34)
Click Here for Japanese TranslationAFP-JIJI PRESS NEWS JOURNAL
- 03/20 19:05 Pain and faint hopes as Iraqis look back at US invasion
- 03/20 18:47 Breaking new ground, video game engages with Holocaust
- 03/20 17:23 Pandemic racism, mass shootings spur Asian-Americans to take up guns
- 03/20 17:16 Huawei has replaced thousands of US-banned parts with Chinese versions-- founder
- 03/20 17:14 French protest over Macron forcing through pension reform
- 03/20 17:13 North Korea says 800,000 people enlist to fight 'US imperialists'
- 03/17 15:43 Mysterious Corsican 'cat-fox' revealed as unique species
- 03/17 15:41 Russian refuseniks hide in fear to evade Ukraine conflict
- 03/17 15:40 Warhol in the desert-- flamboyant art icon pops up in Saudi
- 03/17 15:38 Northeast Brazil sees more fierce gang violence
- 03/17 15:35 Xi mediation offer spurred Iran deal talks-- Saudi official
- 03/17 15:33 French Bulldogs topple Labradors as most popular US breed-- AKC
- 03/16 15:06 BTS absence hurting global K-pop growth-- HYBE chairman
- 03/16 15:05 Garbage mounts in Paris as Macron eyes French pension reform vote
- 03/16 15:03 Prototype spacesuit for future NASA mission to Moon unveiled
- 03/16 15:02 NBA bans Grizzlies' Morant eight games for gun in nightclub
- 03/16 15:00 Second group of prisoners transferred to El Salvador mega-jail
- 03/16 14:59 'Like an animal'-- replica of Navalny's cell set up in Paris
- 03/15 17:06 'Nigerian Billy Elliot' meets British royalty
- 03/15 17:03 Spain's Crown Princess Leonor to start military training
- 03/15 17:02 New research claims Leonardo da Vinci was son of a slave
- 03/15 17:00 Golf's governing bodies propose rule change to reduce ball distance
- 03/15 16:57 Zebra shot dead after biting US man in attack
- 03/15 16:56 Trump rival DeSantis says backing Kyiv not key for US
- 03/14 16:42 UN investigators slam sluggish Syria quake aid
- 03/14 16:41 Ukraine troops wrap up Leopard tank training in Spain
- 03/14 16:37 Rubbish piles up in strike-bound Paris
- 03/14 16:35 Dozens of rare manta rays caught off Gaza coast
- 03/14 16:34 Cyclists hit Brazil's streets nude to display their vulnerability to traffic accidents
- 03/14 16:32 Belarus, Iran vow to boost ties amid Russia's Ukraine war
- 03/13 19:17 Cockfighting still a popular blood sport in southern Iraq
- 03/13 17:05 A year on, Ukraine's embattled nuclear plant turned Russian 'military base'
- 03/13 17:03 Goats, boyfriends, UFOs-- New York reveals bizarre hotline calls
- 03/13 17:01 Ukrainian soldiers wait to reinforce 'real hell' of Bakhmut
- 03/13 16:58 In Lebanese mountains, hatmaker keeps ancient skill alive
- 03/13 16:53 Russia denounces Georgia protests as coup attempt