Nude Bicyclists Protest Unsafe Roads for Bikers
Ever since the group Queen’s album, groups of nude cyclists have been making statements. This week’s news reports of some 300 nude bicyclists riding through the Peruvian capital of Lima to call attention to safety conditions and demand measures protecting cyclists caught my eye. Event organizer Octavio Zegarra says the protesters took to their bicycles nude to show that “this is our body. With this we go out in the streets. We don’t have a car to protect us.” Zegarra asks others to “please respect us.” Official statistics show 2,830 people died in traffic accidents in Peru in 2011.
This is the seventh consecutive year of the annual protest in which cyclists take to the streets in Lima to bring attention to the unsafe conditions for cyclists in the Peruvian capital. Bike crash injury lawyer Doug Landau hoped that all of the nude cyclists were wearing their helmets. Lawyer Landau considers helmets head protection and not just clothing, so that the cycling safety advocates would wear their lids and still technically be “in the buff.” Sun screen would also be a good idea !