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Cyclist researcher and activist Marina Harkot, 28, died early this morning after being run over while riding a bicycle on a highway in the Pinheiros neighborhood in São Paulo. She did not resist and died on the spot. The driver fled without providing help.
The episode occurred shortly after midnight on Sunday (8), on Avenida Paulo VI, near Rua João Moura. Adriana Braga, a nurse and military police officer who was off duty, was passing when she noticed a movement. She says she did not witness the hit, but decided to stop to help when she saw the cyclist lying on the ground.
“I was driving with a friend and I saw her already on the road. Two doctors also stopped to try to help,” he says. Adriana activated Samu and the Military Police, but, according to her, the cyclist was already dead.
Shortly after, according to Adriana, a motorcyclist appeared at the scene who said he followed a Hyundai Tucson after seeing the car hit the cyclist and then flee. He said what the license plate would be.
The case was registered in the 14th PD, in Pinheiros. The car’s identification appears on the document, but there is no confirmation of who was driving. OR Twitter He sought out the SSP (Ministry of Public Security) to find out if an investigation was opened to identify the driver, but has received no response so far.
An activist of the cycle for at least eight years, Marina was a social scientist at USP (University of São Paulo), a feminist activist and a researcher on urban mobility. In 2018, she completed a master’s degree at FAU-USP (USP Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism) with the thesis entitled “The bicycle and women: active mobility, gender and socio-territorial inequalities in São Paulo”.
Marina was a collaborative researcher at LabCidade (Laboratories for Public Space and Right to the City), linked to FAU. She was doing doctoral research, also at FAU, in which she studied socio-territorial segregation based on gender, race and sexuality approaches.
Marina was a researcher and activist in agendas related to urban mobility
Image: Personal archive
Bright, dear and charismatic
Architect Carol La Terza, a friend of Marina’s, says that the cyclist was returning home last night, after visiting another acquaintance. “She used to take this route, it was her favorite,” he says.
Carol, who is also a cycling activist, says she met Marina while cycling. “Eight years ago there were few women who rode in São Paulo. We became very friendly and we became nails and meat,” he says.
She describes Marina as a “brilliant, beloved and charismatic” person. “It just hurts more that we lose one of the best people on this mobility agenda, and in that way, to top it all.”
The architect says that the loss of her friend will be felt by the entire network of cycle activists in São Paulo and says that she will find the strength to continue fighting for the agenda.
“As a woman and as a cyclist, I am going to continue pedaling. I am not going to leave the street at all. I think that is what Marina would do,” she says.
An act of tribute to Marina and of protest against deaths due to traffic accidents should take place today from 5:00 p.m. in Praça do Ciclista, in the Paulista Avenue region.
