Transportation Minister Kye Rymer made those announcements during an online forum recently.

“We have these laws on our books but we all know that the consequences for some of these are minimal and we are in the process of reviewing the penalties for some of these issues,” Rymer stated.

As for the move to get illegal riders licensed, Rymer said his ministry hopes to start by next week.

He said there are only 200-plus licensed bikes in the territory overall.

“We want to start this drive so that by the end of this time, we would have licensed about 300 to 400 riders, so that’s the intent. We are hoping for more and more legal riders on the road.”

In addition to being licensed, riders will also be educated on the importance of safety on the roads, he stated.

Statistics

To further drive his point home, Minister Rymer said there are troubling statistics of accidents and deaths associated with scooters in the territory.

“It is so sad to note that on the books for this year we have already lost three of our young men due to scooter accidents. And, up to this point, I got the statistics, and we had about 66 accidents with scooters already. In 2019, we were up to 107 accidents. So we need to let the public know, you have the privilege of riding, but we want to promote the safety mechanisms attached to riding,” the minister said.

Call to Parents

Rymer also issued a call to parents who opt to gift their children with these types of vehicles, to play their part in the whole educational process.

He also underscored that persons under the age of 16 are legally prohibited from riding these types of vehicles.

“Yes, some parents may want to reward their children or their child with a scooter, but we have the laws to follow and we see where we have younger persons riding motorcycles and scooters not even with a helmet or anything.”