PM Signals Sweeping Licensing Changes Amid Motorcycle Deaths

Following renewed national attention on road safety and the surge in motorcycle-related incidents, Prime Minister John Briceño today expanded on the government’s plans for new motorcycle regulations, indicating that the upcoming framework may include broader measures aimed at strengthening the country’s licensing and compliance systems.  Speaking on the margins of today’s House Meeting, Prime Minister John Briceno explained that while the proposed motorcycle rules are still being finalized, the government is looking beyond just registration and helmet enforcement. He revealed that one of the major considerations on the table is a mandatory retesting requirement for drivers across the board, particularly during license renewals, to ensure that road users possess up-to-date skills and knowledge of traffic laws. According to the PM, the need for stronger competency checks has become increasingly evident given the rising number of road fatalities and non-compliance cases.

John Briceño, Prime Minister: “It’s important for me to make the point. In Cabinet we were frustrated and sometimes angry about all of these accidents that we have with these motorcycles. Many instances these accidents happen because the drivers of these cycles are reckless and then they’re endangering their lives and endanger others. It’s tragic enough when they get killed but to me it’s even more tragic when they get in a bad accident and then they can’t work, they’re in a bed, they broke their back, they lose their feet or something. So we in our frustration and wanting to do something we felt that maybe we should have everyone take the training. Obviously when you look back you know you have 20/20 vision you start to say hold on maybe it’s a bit excessive so that’s the discussion we’re having in Cabinet that we need to pull it back. One of the things that came to my attention is that for instance in the United States whenever you renew your licenses you have to take the test again so maybe that’s something we could start with, one that whenever you go and renew, everybody including not only motorcycles but even cars and trucks and everything that you take that written test just to ensure to bring back that memory what are the laws. So that’s one step that we’ll be looking at.”

The Prime Minister also addressed the public’s concerns about how the new motorcycle regulations may impact everyday riders, delivery drivers, and commuters who rely heavily on two-wheel transportation. He acknowledged that the government is examining possible leniencies or transitional allowances, particularly for groups that may be disproportionately affected by new requirements. While no final decisions have been made, he noted that the administration is committed to balancing safety with fairness as the regulations are developed.

John Briceño, Prime Minister: “The technical people are taking a look at it but the recommendation is that maybe we should look at say cyclists that have a license for more than two years and have not gotten into any accident or anything maybe we don’t need to require them take the lessons. Or maybe just the new persons coming onboard. If you were to remember, or maybe you all are too young to remember, but growing up for you to get a drivers license you have to have your big L on your vehicle and every evening you see a lot of people with their L because they take their sons, daughters, teaching them drive. Whilst I still believe it’s required under the law you hardly ever seen that. You hardly ever see anybody driving with an L. So I think some of these things were in place for a reason and maybe we need to go back to that to ensure that people learn the laws to feel a sense of responsibility when they’re in the road not only for themselves but also for other passengers and other vehicles that are traveling on the road. But also with that comes enforcement and I think that is where the weakness also is that we’re not good at enforcement and we’ve been working with the Ministry of Transport and also the police department to see how we could work out an enforcement so that whenever there’s an infraction that these people can be held accountable. For instance we brought in Cabinet another member said that in the United States when he was there in college and wanted to take a drink in the vehicle and the friend said we don’t do that here because if they catch you driving and drinking you’re heavily penalized, they take away your license for a very long time and if you crash and you’re drunk you could end up in jail for many years and so maybe we need to really take a hard look at some of this and so education and enforcement it is a balance that we have to find.”

The finalized motorcycle regulations are expected to be introduced in the coming weeks./