The Honduran Congress has passed a temporary measure banning motorcycles from carrying passengers, following two high profile killings in the last week committed by gunmen on motorcycles.
The new law, passed by Congress on Wednesday, will limit the number of persons permitted to travel on a motorcycle in Honduras to just one for a period of six months.
The measure is a response to the killings of former Honduran Security Minister Alfredo Landaverde and radio journalist Luz Marina Paz Villalobos in separate incidents in the capital, Tegucigalpa, this week. Both were killed where motorcycles pulled up alongside their vehicles and a passenger on the motorcycle fired through the window. No arrests have been made so far in relation to either incident.
“Given the current security situation, we believe that the appropriate response is that only one person at a time will be allowed on motorcycles,” Security Minister Pompeyo Bonilla told lawmakers.
Guatemala brought in a similar measure in 2009, also in an effort to halt assassinations.