Belize’s former Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, who’s now chief government officer of the nation’s Ministry of Transport, has highlighted that regardless of having in place helmet carrying legal guidelines to guard motorcyclists and scale back deaths, his nation is dealing with a mixture of challenges with enforcement as a result of complexities posed by crime and violence in Belize, in addition to different social realities.
Williams was contributing to a panel dialogue exploring regional views on helmet use on the latest Heads Up Suppose Tank held on the AC Lodge in Kingston, Jamaica. The occasion was hosted by the Nationwide Helmet Carrying Coalition, a venture of the JN Basis in partnership with the Nationwide Street Security Council, with funding from the FIA Basis. The JN Basis is the philanthropic arm of The Jamaica Nationwide Group, one of many largest monetary conglomerates in Jamaica.
Williams famous that there are legal guidelines in Belize that mandate using helmets and even require {that a} helmet be supplied with each bike offered. Regardless of the regulation, compliance stays a problem, he mentioned, due, partly, to the restricted capability of enforcement businesses and societal sympathy in the direction of weak customers, equivalent to low-income single moms.
“Our transport division works in tandem with the police, however are they doing sufficient? Are they geared up to do sufficient? Definitely not,” he argued.
He attributed this shortfall to insufficient funding and sources wanted to implement current legal guidelines successfully.
To make his level clear, Williams described the day by day actuality of single moms transporting their kids to and from college on bikes, typically in violation of the regulation.
“Think about seeing a single mom using with two kids on a bike. It’s towards the regulation, however enforcement officers typically hesitate due to sympathy,” he mentioned. “Is that an excuse for breaking the regulation? I don’t suppose so.”
One other main concern raised by Williams was the prison exploitation of helmets. He revealed that greater than 80 p.c of murders in Belize are dedicated by suspects on bikes, a lot of whom use full-face helmets to hide their identities.
“We’ve discovered that whereas criminals put on helmets that disguise their complete face, law-abiding residents typically put on much less protecting gear,” he mentioned.
To handle this, Belize is exploring legislative choices, together with a controversial proposal to require seen identification numbers on helmets and the bikes they’re worn with.
“We’re contemplating making it an offence to put on a helmet with out the matching automobile quantity displayed,” Williams disclosed.
With the rise in gas prices and worsening visitors congestion, bikes have turn into probably the most inexpensive and environment friendly mode of transportation in Belize, however Williams cautioned that this rising recognition have to be matched by efficient regulation.
“As using bikes will increase, we should be certain that the suitable mechanisms are in place to cope with the unlawful use and security issues that include them,” he mentioned.
“Helmet use have to be a authorized obligation, not a selection, as a result of it will possibly save lives, and that’s what we’re right here to do,” he emphasised.
Different presenters on the panel had been Dr Terry Smith, principal scientist at Galateus based mostly in the US; Dr Wendell Richards, regulatory affairs skilled Nationwide Compliance and Regulatory Authority in Jamaica; Gonzalo Peón, director and chief government officer of the Institute for Transportation and Improvement Coverage in Mexico; and Shivanie Mahadeo, consultant of the Guyana Nationwide Bureau of Requirements.
