$300 Motorcycle Course Under Fire as Police Auction Draws Crowds

The Belize Police Department rolled out its annual end-of-year auction today, giving the public a shot at snagging motorcycles, bikes, and even electronics. But this comes as the department cracks down on motorcycles and the government floats a controversial plan, a three-hundred-dollar training course for motorists nationwide. Many Belizeans say, sure, road safety matters, but a pricey course? Not the answer. Now, the government is back at the drawing board. Prime Minister John Briceño shared what’s next in those discussions.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“In our frustration and wanting to do something, we felt that maybe we should just have everyone to take the training. Obviously when you look back, you have a 2020 vision, you start to say maybe it’s a bit excessive. So that’s the discussion we’re having in cabinet about that. We need to pull it back. One of the things that was made to, to my, one of the things that came to my attention is that, for instance, United States, whenever you renew your license, you have to take the test again. So maybe that’s something that we could start with. One that whenever you will 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 into your memory what are the laws, and to do that. So that’s one step that we’ll be looking at. Secondly, the minister is saying the technical people that take can look at it, but the recommendation that maybe we should look at, say maybe cyclists that have had a license for more than two years and have not gotten into any accident or anything. Maybe they don’t. We don’t need to require them to take the lessons, or maybe just the new persons coming on board.”