Pharmacist Jairo Patino, 29, fell off his motorcycle when an SUV suddenly swerved into his lane and hit him. "I could have been paralyzed," he says. Venezuela, once among the world's most violent countries, saw homicides drop from over 8,500 in 2018 to 1,338 in 2024 — a nearly 90% decline, according to the Attorney General's Office. Experts credit police crackdowns and mass migration. But as murders fall, traffic-related deaths are soaring. "Traffic accidents are becoming a public health crisis," says a 25-year-old paramedic. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES ARRANGED IN SEQUENCES