E-bikes registration: Traffic ranks engaging public on use to ensure road safety

With the regularisation of electric cycles (e-bikes) coming into fruition, Traffic Chief, Superintendent Dennis Stephen has said that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has been engaging with e-bike users on road rules and safety.
Following the passage of several amendments to the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Bill in the National Assembly in May, e-bike users are now required to follow the same rules as motorcyclists on the road and carry the relevant documents to use the roadways.
Last month, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) began registering these e-bikes at the Licence Revenue Office, Lamaha Railway Embankment, Camp and Lamaha Streets, and Integrated Regional Tax Offices (IRTOs) countrywide.

Stephen noted that the GPF is working alongside GRA to facilitate this process, observing that e-bike users at large have been cooperating and registering their vehicles.
Meanwhile, Traffic ranks are carrying out a lecture series on the rules of the road and what is required of e-bike users to be on the road safely and legally.
“The e-cycle must be registered, you must have a driver’s licence, you must have a certificate of fitness to ensure your cycle is fit to be on the road and insurance to cover you in case of an accident,” Stephen said.
“As it relates to other information, we’re educating them on how to use the road. In Guyana, we drive on the left-hand side and overtake on the right-hand side so all motor vehicles drive on the left-hand side,” Stephen said.
He added that this public awareness campaign is being carried out the most in Regions Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), given their prevalence of e-bikes.
Since 2021, Stephen stated that there have been over 13 road deaths and over 27 serious injuries emerging from road accidents involving e-bikes.
The introduction of electric bikes into Guyana’s roadways have been met with significant concern and backlash from members of local law enforcement.
In November 2021, Assistant Superintendent Raun Clark, Officer-in-Charge of Traffic in Region Six had taken issue with the fact that there was no law the Traffic Department could enforce against the users of those cycles, and that there was a lack of age limit for their use.
Similarly, earlier this year, Divisional Traffic Officer of Division 4A – (Georgetown), Deputy Superintendent Timothy Williams expressed that the use of e-bikes would require the creation of policies that would need to be strongly reinforced to cater to those road users.

Meanwhile, several e-bike users had previously taken to the streets at Blairmont, Region Six, to protest the regularisation of this mode of transportation that they deemed was cost-effective and greatly helped them in their daily lives.
Protesters had expressed that since the e-bike does not have an engine, a licence to use it was unnecessary, while others stated that since they were among the first to purchase these bikes, the registration fee should be waived for them.
In response, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had stated that a common concern was that of road safety and as such, engaging persons to register their e-bikes was not intended to be a revenue-generating measure but one to ensure safe travels of all road users.
“These bikes are not ordinary bikes; they are like motorbikes without pedals. When they are on public roads, they are silent because they are electric bikes. So, we must ensure the safety of both the riders and others on the road,” he had said.