That traffic can give you cancer is a suspicion behind a study to be conducted by the School of Public Health at the prestigious Yale University. The next three years $ 1.7 million will be spent on this research.

For those living in Lima, this is no cause for curiosity or laughter. The daily traffic is part of the flawed and vicious ecology we suffer. Like any ecology, it’s the result of the complex interaction of many factors. Here I will cover two: the lack of character of the ruling class and the pathology of our ‘criolla’ culture. The first has deprived us of the infrastructure and the rule of law necessary in a city of 10 million people. The second has been perversely resourceful facing the lack of infrastructure and law, to justify the informality, abuse and corruption.

Character is not abuse and brutality, or angry and threatening statements. It is shown in firm decisions, fruit of analysis and reflection, and results in a leadership that calls, convicts and has the moral ascendancy, integrity and statesmanship to achieve it. It can acknowledge well founded objections, but does not give in to tantrum or threat. On the other hand, the worst of the ‘criollo’ is shown in killer combis, widespread disrespect for traffic laws and the absolute inability of law enforcement to reverse the situation.

The negative consequences are many. We have in Lima an EAP of 4.5 million workers who lose at least an hour a day in traffic delays, which makes us lose a GDP of 9,000 billion US$ a year. The daily time lost by the 2.5 million school and college students also has a huge cost. To this we add the frustration, ill will and despair that millions of Lima dwellers accumulate daily in being subjected to this. The stress caused by the aggression and irritation and excessive pollution affect our health as Yale suspects. There is also the waste of fuel and wear of vehicles, and the school of arrogance, bullying and lack of mutual respect to which we are subjected on a daily basis; something that seriously damages our social fabric.

Our local, regional and national governments, in decades, have not had the intelligence, skill and courage to solve this. And we have also lacked them to claim it effectively.