On Thursday, January 15, a driver crashed an Audi A4 into a bicycle docking station in the Santa Tere neighborhood of Guadalajara. Police found the upscale vehicle perched on top of the two-wheelers, which are part of the public sharing scheme “Mi Bici” initiated on December 1 last year. Police are still looking for the Audi’s owner, who fled on foot. 
On Saturday, January 17, a drunk driver invaded the cycle path trying to overtake a bus on Avenida La Paz. He crossed into the lane, hitting and injuring a woman as she got off through the back door. The driver of the car sped from the scene. He was eventually tracked down and arrested but was let off with a fine of 105,000 pesos ($US7,200)
While local government is keen to promote the use of bicycles in the city, these incidents have done little to assure cyclists that their rights are respected by motorists.
The state government has plowed 73 million pesos ($US5 million) into the hire scheme that makes 800 bicycles available for borrowing from 86 docking stations around the city. The system is designed to rival a similar program in Mexico City.
Yet, critics argue that Guadalajara’s roads are simply too dangerous for cyclists. In a document spread virally on social media, a writer using the pseudonym “An ordinary cyclist looking for the extraordinary” declared: “We are not satisfied and demand that dignified and safe conditions are created so we can move freely on our roads, without risking our lives, whether on foot or on a bicycle.”
The writer described the new scheme as “prescribing aspirin for a chronic illness.”
The non-governmental organization White Bike has recorded 153 cyclist deaths since 2009.
To remember the victims and to draw attention to the problem the organization installs a bicycle on a lamppost near to where the cyclist was killed. It also collects statistics related to the problem. According to these, 95 percent of cyclists killed are male, and the majority are in their thirties. Public transport is involved in 33 percent of these cases. The organization also reports that traffic accidents are one of the main causes of death in Mexico and Jalisco is the second worst affected area.