Brazilian Government and FIA against traffic violence

The partnership between the Ministry of Cities, FIA and The Emerson Fittipaldi Institute will promote the first automobile event for a social cause in Brazil. The FIA World Endurance Championship – 6 hours of Sao Paulo that will take place this Saturday in Interlagos, will have as a main theme, Traffic Conscience – A pact for life.

The event will start a campaign to create awareness for Brazilian drivers about the necessity of obeying traffic rules to help reduce the numbers of deaths on Brazilian roads. The more recent numbers reveal that in the Brazil about 42 thousand people die every year. Nationally, Brazil has  around 73 million vehicles, with nearly 3.5 million new cars extra cars coming onto the street annually.

The campaign is part of the National Pact for Accidents Reduction – A Pact for Life, signed by the Brazilian government with United Nations Organization (UNO) after decided that the period of 2011 – 2020 as the World Decade for Road Safety and FIA Action for Road Safety. 

Minister of Cities of Brazil, Aguinaldo Ribeiro said: “The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness of Brazilian drivers about the need to respect the traffic laws to reduce the number of road deaths.”

Emerson Fittipaldi said that during his career in the international motorsport, he lost 35 colleagues, and the last fatal accident happened with Ayrton Senna, 18 years ago. “Safety on the tracks has increased significantly in recent years. In the 70s it was very dangerous to drive a race car. Jean Todt is the first FIA's president to create a global movement like this, which aims to improve traffic safety worldwide”.

Photo: INTERLAGOS CIRCUIT (SAO PAULO, BRAZIL), 6 HOURS OF SAO PAULO, 13 SEPTEMBER 2012. The Minister of Cities of Brazil, Aguinaldo Ribeiro (right), and Emerson Fittipaldi meet the press at Interlagos.