¡Dos sí, uno no!

The day I left for my vacation to the states on April 9, I picked up the national newspaper Prensa Libre to read in the airport as I was waiting for my flight. One of the main headlines was about the newly implemented restrictions on motorcyclists that were to go into effect across the country that day (the other was about the dangers of flying into and out of the Guatemala Aurora Airport given the large quantity of near-by buildings and towers surpassing the safety height restriction…really reassuring as I was about to board an airplane).

With little to no warning the Guatemalan government put into effect laws governing the use of motorcycles that will adversely affect a sizeable chunk of the population of the country. Now all motorcyclists must have a visible license plate on their vehicle, wear a white helmet with their license plate number on the back, and wear a bright fluorescent yellow vest (think of the ‘80s) also displaying their license plate number. Requiring license plates and helmets are good needed measures (they actually already existed, but many people, especially in the case of helmets, didn’t follow them), but the main part of the new law, the restriction that will have a negative impact for the some 600,000 motorcyclists (almost 5% of the population) in Guatemala, is that now motorcycles can not carry any passengers. Only one person per motorcycle. The government has stated that the ban on passengers will not be permanent but has not given a time frame for how long it will be in effect.

To an American this restriction banning passengers might seem like a slight annoyance. Joy rides would have to be relished in solitude. In the United States I would venture to guess a small percentage of the estimated 7 million motorcyclists (only about 2.3% of the total population) use their motorcycles as their primary form of transportation. But in Guatemala I think it would be safe to say for the majority those 600,000 motorcyclists, their bike is their only form of transportation.

For many in Guatemala, a motorcycle is like the family minivan. It is the way the kids get to school, and the parents get to their jobs, and the family goes to the market. On any given day I would see about a dozen pairs passing by on motorcycles and sometimes even 4 or 5 people piled onto one. So a law against carrying passengers does not affect only the nearly 5% of the population that uses motorcycles, but all those family members, co-workers, and friends who rely on a driver to get from point A to point B.

So why would the Guatemalan government implement a law restricting the movement and therefore the livelihood of so many of its citizens? That’s a good question.

The government hopes that the ban on passengers on motorcycles as well as the other measures will curb the ever-increasing levels of violence in the capital and around the country. According to statistics, 6 out of every 10 murders in Guatemala City are perpetrated by motorcyclists carrying a passenger. (You drive, I’ll shoot.) And since motorcyclists can easily swerve between cars and escape from the scene of a crime, few if any are ever apprehended. Guatemalan lawmakers point to Columbia, a country that implemented similar motorcycle restrictions starting in the 1980s, as an example of the effectiveness of these measures to lower crime.

There is not a person in Guatemala that would not agree something needs to be done to combat the alarming rate of violence in the country, but the problem with the motorcycle restrictions is that it punishes so many Guatemalan families that need this form of transportation.

For those who have been affected by the change, officials have suggested using public transportation. That would be a nearly acceptable alternative if the public transportation in the capital were even remotely safe. As Peace Corps volunteers we aren’t allowed to even set foot on the buses that circulate within Guatemala City given the high number of robberies, assaults, and murders that take place on them on a daily basis. If I were a parent, I would never put my child on a bus alone to travel to school. And outside the capital in rural areas, public transportation isn’t always regularly available to make it a feasible alternative.

And more than just the huge inconvenience of not being able to carry passengers, there is the cost issue too. Families will now have the extra monthly cost of paying for public transportation. Motorcyclists who were already in compliance with the helmet law now have to buy another one that is white to meet the new restrictions as well as a gaudy vest, which people have no idea as to where they can even purchase one.

Adding to the list of unintended consequences and things not thoroughly thought through before implementing the law, the fluorescent yellow color required for the motorcycle vests is strikingly similar to the uniforms of the Transit Police.

Criminal motorcyclists will just adapt to do both the driving and the shooting by themselves and then can easily melt into a sea of fluorescent yellow.

Police Officer: “Could you please tell me what the perpetrator was wearing?”

Witness: “Well, he or she had on a white helmet and a bright yellow fluorescent vest…kind of like yours.”

As I was sitting in the airport reading the article, I kept thinking to myself, “This is not going to fly in Guatemala.” And sure enough, every day since the law went into effect on April 9, there has been an article in the Prensa Libre recounting negative reactions and protests. Motorcyclists (with passengers) are blocking highways in different parts of the country, burning tires, and jamming main thoroughfares in the capital using the slogan, “¡Dos sí, uno no!” (Two yes, one no!). One protest in the capital was dispersed by the police with tear gas.

This past Tuesday, April 21, the Office of Human Rights opened up a table for discussions between affected motorcyclists and the government. Representatives of the motorcyclists have agreed to stop blocking main roads in the capital and the government has promised to listen to and give responses to their complaints. We’ll see what results these talks render.

As for now, even with the new laws in place, little to nothing has changed. Since returning to Guatemala on April 18, I have seen dozens of motorcyclists riding helmetless, vestless, and with passengers. As a grace period, the government has not yet started to impose the Q1,000 (~$125) violation fines, but even when they do go into effect, I don’t know how many people (especially here in rural Guatemala) will actually follow the new regulations. In many cases, there are little or no other options but to break the law.

I asked some of the police officers in town what they thought of the restrictions, and they told me flatly, “They are ridiculous, and there is no way we are going to ticket anybody for violating them.” So if the people don’t want them, and the police aren’t (or reluctantly at most) going to enforce them, I don’t see how effective they are really going to be.

I think policy makers (and development workers) err sometimes by having a “one-size-fits-all” mentality. It worked there, so it will work here. But just because a law was effective in Columbia in the 1980s, doesn’t mean it will be effective (or fair) in Guatemala in 2009. What percentage of the population of Columbia used motorcycles in the 1980s? What percentage of those motorcyclists needed their motorcycle as their primary form of transportation? Were crimes committed by motorcyclists occurring in all areas of the nation or concentrated in just the capital city (as in the case in Guatemala)?

I would like to believe that the Guatemalan government undertook rigorous studies to evaluate the impact the ban on passengers on motorcycles would have on the population and then carefully weighed that against the estimated benefits, but sadly, to me, this law just proves how out of touch the wealthy elite lawmakers are with the average Guatemalan. Have any of the officials advocating public transportation as an alternative actually risked their own lives by getting on a city bus? Or have they ever had to rely on a motorcycle to transport themselves and their families to work and school? Of course not. They have their cars and helicopters (although Guatemala is one of the poorest countries in Central America, it has the highest per capita use of helicopters and personal aircraft) to zip around the country when needed or desired.

But hopefully with all the protests and backlash, the restriction on passengers will be repealed or at least limited to certain zones of the capital with the highest incidents of crimes committed by motorcyclists. Otherwise it is going to continue to be a very painful, protest filled transition for both the motorcyclists and the government.