While it may not be commonly heard of in the U.S., in Brazil, kite fighting has become so dangerous the government is considering a nationwide ban. Yes, kites — think the colorful, paper or plastic toys seen soaring through the sky on a breezy day, only deadlier.
Players use sharp-edged kite lines, known as “cerol” in Portuguese, to slash their opponents’ lines and rip their kites from the sky. The popular pastime is recognized as having cultural and historical heritage in Rio de Janeiro. Unfortunately, it’s also known to cause injuries and even deaths.
The lines are already outlawed in some of the more populous areas of Brazil, including Rio, but that doesn’t stop people from using them anyway.
While kite fighting competitions are held safely in designated areas in countries like France and Chile, in Brazil, it’s widespread and unregulated — and has been particularly dangerous on highways, where motorists can’t always see them stretched across the lanes.
So many accidents have been caused over the years that motorcyclists take precautionary measures by attaching thin posts fitted with razors to their bikes. These are able to cut through fallen kite lines. In fact, the company that oversees one of Rio’s busiest highways regularly hands the devices out to motorcyclists.
The nation every year still sees multiple cases of Brazilian motorcyclists with severed limbs or slit throats — and the federal government is considering a ban on these cerol lines altogether. A law to do just that has already passed in Brazilian Congress and is now up for a Senate vote.
Brazil’s government doesn’t have any official data on the number of injuries and deaths caused by the razor-sharp lines nationwide. However, one nonprofit that runs a hotline for crime victims says since 2019 there were more than 2,800 reports of illegal use of the lines in Rio alone. The lines are not completely banned there — kite fights can be legally held in certain designated areas that are far from roads and highways or people’s homes.
State laws over these cutting lines are different across Brazil, with some areas banning them completely. It remains to be seen if that will become the nationwide standard.
