Traffic dept moving to clamp down on delinquent E-bike users

In light of the continuous lawless behaviour displayed by electric bike users on roadways across the country, the Traffic Department is moving to toughen its enforcement of law for this category of road users.
In May 2023, Guyana passed laws to regulate the use of electric bikes on the country’s roadways. Effective July 4, 2023, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) began to register e-bikes.

Among the requirements for registration, persons must be the holder of a valid driver’s licence. However, many e-bike users are unlicensed and a significant number of the vehicles on the roadways remain unregistered.
In an interview with Guyana Times on Tuesday, Traffic Chief, Senior Superintendent Mahendra Singh explained that Police had initially taken an approach of sensitisation when they encountered e-bike users breaking the law. Now, he says a tougher stance is needed.
“But in this country, I always say the education is complemented by the enforcement. It’s not to say the education is not working, the education reaches everyone, it is that they are complying with using population where there isn’t voluntary compliance forced compliance is engaged via traffic enforcement and that is the answer.”
In recent times, members of the public have been raising concerns about the reckless use of e-bikes across the country – particularly when child endangerment occurs. Only recently in Berbice, a 9-month-old baby and her 19-year-old mother died in an accident involving an e-bike that was being operated by a 17-year-old.
“It’s irresponsibility all over when you look at it, there’s an adult father, adult mother and a young baby. Three of them on the same bike then what happens next caution thrown to the wind, safety thrown to the wind, two lives are lost when an accident could have been prevented.”
The traffic chief explained that police are working assiduously to uphold and enforce the rules of the road. He added that the effectiveness of this initiative will be affected by the police to vehicle ratio.
“Our numbers when equated to motorists on the road of all classes, we’re like a drop in the ocean. While our numbers would be small, the enforcement would be targeted more or less minimised to areas where it is prevalent. So coming from that angle, now that force compliance will bring about voluntary compliance in areas where we have not hit as yet or are not so prevalent in terms of our patrols and presence.”
Nevertheless, Singh has made a call to members of the public to join in the fight against the reckless usage of the country’s roadways, emphasising that there must be individual responsibility.

“My encouragement to the members of the public is to always exercise the five c’s…those who are driving four wheels or two wheels give priority and preference to those who are on their foot pedestrians pedal cyclists the elderly or disabled and to always be alert or self-aware of your surroundings it helps to prevent an accident which could have occurred or the likelihood of occurring and giving way does not necessarily mean that you are defeated.”
Singh added, “the public is encouraged to ensure that one thing happens, positive pressure is applied, that is positive peer pressure to bring about a desired change out there with which the road is used.”
“We have given much attention to e-bikes, that is to say via traffic education and even proceed to warn persons, though it’s lawful for us to proceed to take the punitive action to charge them or put them before the court you know and I mean I don’t know how much more we could do in that regard.”