"I could even have died if I wasn’t wearing a helmet,” Silva told Brazilian media outlet Tribuna.

The 43-year-old legend was biking Wednesday across a large street with two traffic lights ... when something went horribly wrong.

"The first one was green ... but I cannot [be sure] if the second turned red in the process."

Silva says he was thrown from his bike -- suffering cuts on his face and a broken bone in his foot.

"People have to be more careful in traffic. It’s hard to ride bikes in Curitiba.”

If the story sounds familiar, it's because Silva was also hit by a car while riding his bike to his gym in 2016.

Silva suffered major damage in that crash and required stitches on his leg.

Similarly, he credits his bike helmet for saving his life in that incident too.