Motorcycle couriers in Mexico City will soon be required to obtain a special license to deliver food and goods in the city.

The rise in popularity of app-based messenger and food delivery companies has caused a rise in the number of motorcyclists on the capital’s roads, and with them, a rise in the number of accidents.

The new requirement is part of Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum’s new road safety strategy, the goal of which is to reduce the number of traffic accidents and deaths, above all those involving motorcyclists and those occurring in the early morning hours and on weekends.

The decision for the new license came after Sheinbaum’s administration consulted the data compiled by a number of government agencies and private sector entities.

The study found that motorcyclists are 10 times more likely to be involved in traffic accidents and 10 times more likely to die in them too. In the last four months of 2019, the city recorded 1.8 deaths for every one million motorcycle trips.

Such numbers prompted the city’s Mobility Secretariat (Semovi) to decide to enact the new licensing regulations.

As an added safety measure, delivery motorcyclists for Uber Eats, Rappi, iVoy and Sin Delantal and couriers for companies like Domino’s Pizza will be required to take a motorcycle safety course in order to receive the license.

Other traffic safety initiatives will include the reinforcement of drunk driving checkpoints, temporary license suspensions for those caught driving while drinking and doubling the number of traffic cameras and radar devices, among others.

There will also be a new traffic operation called “Not On Red,” which will issue tickets for running red lights.

Source: Infobae (sp)