In a move aimed at curbing the growing chaos in the motorcycle sector and raising the level of public safety, Minister of Interior and Municipalities Ahmad Hajar issued a decision prohibiting any company, institution, exhibition, merchant, or any party involved in selling new or used imported motorcycles or ATVs in Lebanon, from delivering any motorcycle before it is officially registered with the competent department in the Traffic, Vehicles, and Machines Management Authority, in addition to obligating these parties to deliver a protective helmet to the buyer.
In a related context, the head of the Lebanese International Academy for Traffic Safety, Kamel Ibrahim, stated in an interview with , that “one of the main points that must be addressed in this decision is the organization of the motorcycle sector in Lebanon, especially in light of the current reality that is witnessing a wide spread of illegal and unregistered motorcycles, and given the high number of motorcycle accident victims, which constitute 30% of the total number of traffic accident victims.”
Ibrahim explained that “an unregistered motorcycle whose owner is unknown becomes outside any regulatory framework, as it is impossible to track it or identify its owner even if it is monitored through surveillance cameras or otherwise, which negatively affects more than one level.”
He indicated that “the negative effects of this illegal reality of motorcycles are distributed on several levels. On the security level, a percentage of these motorcycles are used in theft operations or the commission of serious violations, at a time when it is difficult to prosecute the perpetrators due to the absence of legal registration. As for accidents and traffic violations, it becomes difficult to enforce the law, as it is impossible to determine responsibilities or impose fines effectively, and in the event of a traffic accident, the motorcycle is often unregistered and uninsured, which leads to legal problems and places a heavy burden on the owners of other vehicles, who may be forced to bear the physical and material damages resulting from the accident due to the absence of mandatory insurance for the motorcycle.”
Ibrahim affirmed that “all these factors combined confirm that the existing chaos in this sector requires serious and comprehensive organization, considering that the solution begins with imposing a clear mechanism that obligates all institutions that sell motorcycles to organize accurate records and register each motorcycle properly before selling or trading it, as this procedure constitutes the basis for any effective and sustainable regulatory decision.”
In this context, he pointed out that “the Minister of Interior is currently working on a comprehensive plan that adopts a new approach to address these files, through strategic measures that differ from what was previously adopted, and aims to organize the sector and reduce violations, and this plan includes security aspects, reducing thefts, and enhancing public safety, whether for motorcycle users or for the rest of the citizens.”
In conclusion, Ibrahim stressed that “organizing the motorcycle sector is not an option, but a pressing necessity to protect security, enforce the law, and ensure the safety of people first and foremost, noting that this organization makes the application of the law easier and more effective, and paves the way for tightening procedures against unregistered motorcycles or those sold in violation of legal principles, and called on citizens to register their motorcycles properly to avoid exposure to legal penalties or the seizure of the motorcycle for violating the laws in force, pointing out that the next stage will witness greater strictness in the application of the law on violating motorcycles.”
