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International Motorcycle News
The Central America Republic of Honduras has the world’s highest murder rate – 82 per 100,000 people in 2010, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Most of these murders are attributed to the direct connection of the country being a major transit route to smuggle cocaine into the United States. And with this smuggling arrives much presence from Mexican drug cartels and Honduras street gangs.
These criminals have recently being using motorcycles as major tools for drive-by shootings; the driver drives, and the passenger (gunman) does the shooting.
To help combat these motorcycle-shooting sprees, one which claimed the life of Journalist Luz Marina Paz and her driver in Honduras’ capital of Tegucigalpa, the president of repulic, Porfirio Lobo, has banned all passengers on motorcycles for the next six months. The ban was passed by Honduras politicians on Wednesday with immediate affect.
Speaking to the El Heraldo newspaper, Honduras Congressman Erick Rodriquez says "We know it is going to affect a certain part of the population, but the country had to take steps against hired killers."
The efforts seem appropriate to help resolve some criminal efforts, but there are also thousands of Hondurans who rely on motorcycles as the only means of transportation for work. And many of these motorcyclists likely carry passengers to save money on fuel costs.
This will be interesting to follow. Stay clicked to UltimateMotorCycling.com for updates on the Honduras motorcycle-passenger ban.
