New traffic regulation in Guatemala

Starting today we have a few unbelievable new traffic regulations regarding motorcycles :

-We (the ones using bikes with local license plates) are supposed to wear an orange vest with the license plate # on the back . The same goes for the helmet.

-All the motorcycles are supposed to stay on the right side of the right lane all the time .

-Lane splitting is illegal .

The fine for ignoring all the above mentioned, is Q.1000.00 (US $130)



Nobody knows how they want to enforce this law. In the major cities and towns it's the city police who is in charge of traffic regulation and they don't depend from the federal government . A few of the major citie polices departments already stated that they will NOT enforce this stupid law.

Nobody has the manpower to enforce this law .

the vest thing has been around in colombia for some time, no?

as for the rest of it, i'll bet what will happen is that the cops will do nothing about the locals on small bikes, but the big bikes ridden by foreigners and locals will get nailed.

i've been stopped in nica tens of times for doing the same thing every moto rider in the country does all day long but never gets stopped for. most likely because i'm riding a dr650 which is much bigger than the average bike there. not to mention that i look like an alien with all my gear...

Panama recently passed a law that required reflective vests, and license plate numbers to be worn on both the vest and the helmet, numbers to be 6 inches high! How would you fit this on a helmet? and what if you have two or more bikes, you would need to find a way to swap numbers, but they must be durable enough to withstand wind and rain! The argument was that it would reduce drive by shootings from a motorcycle (an extremely rare occurance here).

But a large group of cyclists gathered at the ministry, and protested. The result was that the license numbers are not currently required, and the vests need be worn only between 6pm and 6am.

Que tonto!

I never understood how having a vest w/ your license plate numbers as well as the license plate number on your helmet is supposed to reduce driveby shootings. Every street corner in Colombia has someone selling vests and putting numbers on helmets. It'd be easy enough to steal a bike and get a vest and correct numbers on your helmet in about 10 minutes.

It's called the third world for a reason...

"'Nobody has the manpower to enforce this law .'"

Any law is only as good as those willing to enforce it, then a court system to prosecute it. That is if it gets to the courts...

"'It's called the third world for a reason... '"

Third world (or if you want to be more PC, "developing country", as my partner has reminded me, which she has done more than once) or free'er world.... I think more liberating!!

I miss my time in Latin America. Coming back to the states with all the cameras at every intersection (everywhere really!), nazi police pulling you over for 5 over.... HHHHMMMMMM... Damn, I miss Latin America!!!

We already had a similar law like this one back in 2009 : Black vests, license # on our helmet and only 1 person on the bike.

First of all , it doesn't apply for non Guatemalan vehicles. And back then at the beginning the police enforced it only on small local bikes, never on the big ones. I never used the bloody vest, no # on my helmet, 2 up most of the time and I got never pulled over . And after some time they just stopped enforcing it at all.

Just in Guatemala City we have close to a 50 000 bikes : If all of them would be riding on the same lane , one behind the other that woud be a 250 km long line

There have been demonstrations against the law and it's still 27 days until the vest shall be mandatory .


About "third world..." There is a price for everything and everything is about choices we make. Yesterday I passed a police car at 150 km/h in a 90 km/h zone and all I got was a look of admiration from the cops

Yup, Guatemala and Colombia have been speed friendly. In Colombia the cops may even give you a thumbs up as you blow by them. ymmv.

Whenever someone scolds me for using this term, saying it's elitist or un-PC or whatever, I urge them to research the origins of the term. It has NOTHING to do with level of development. Purely political - the first world consisted of nations aligned with NATO, the second world was nations aligned with the Warsaw Pact, and the third world was nations not aligned with either. Coincidentally, these nations also tended to be lesser developed than 1st or 2nd world nations, but that was not part of the definition. Technically, Saudi Arabia was a third world country despite being very wealthy and well developed. Greenland was also a third world country. It's an antiquated term now that that cold war is over and NATO and Warsaw Pact lines have lost much of their relevance, but in no way is it elitist or condescending to specify which nations were part of treaty organizations during the cold war. Those are just facts. Fucking hippies. Read a book before you go scolding people for using terms you only think you understand. (not directed at you, what car? Just in general)

Perhaps I should've been more clear. My point was that when it comes to enacting ridiculous laws that are 1. Practically impossible to enforce; 2. Based on a reaction to a problem rather than a pro-active approach, 3rd world countries rule.

Sure we have an insane number of stupid laws in the "1st" world. But think about the premise of this law: we have too many drive by moto shootings, so lets make the 99.9% of non-criminal moto riders wear their plate number on their vests and helmets.

That's almost as good as outlawing guns in America. Only outlaws would be left with guns...

That is a fact that we will all be punished and the guys they are trying to enforce it against don't give a shit anyway.

Why the hell would they put big numbers on everything knowing they will do a driveby shooting ... common sense is not that common in the law makers .... that is world wide.

I remember some guys in Colombia telling me that the in the moto drive by's, the guys were wearing number vests and numbered helmets, just not the same number as the moto, which was probably bogus as well. They may be criminals, but that doesn't mean they are stupid.

So now that a number vest is required, I guess the criminals will have to obey the new law when they commit a crime.

Just to be clear who "we" are, this new law will affect very few ADVriders, only those (like GuateRider) that have Guatemalan registered vehicles:

But I still see your point that laws don't often have the desired affect on the targeted group. Just didn't want travelers to misinterpret anything about the requirements.

got stopped yesterday after crossing into Guate from Mexi on my Guate registered BigV.... cop did not mention the fact that we were not in compliance...

We as in riders, I think the feds if they have an opportunity to make some beer money may cross that grey line....just sayin.

Nope, bikes with foreign license plate are not required to wear the vest and number on the helmet. As far as using just the right side of the right lane...that counts for everybody .
But for the moment being , the law is not being enforced(and some parts of the law never will) and after massive demonstrations there are talks with the government going on and they might change the law.

As far as beer money for the cops : After 3 month in Guatemala you should know better . They don't bother tourists as long as they don't catch you doing something ilegal . And in that case, tourists do NOT deserve a different treatment as we locals anyway .

Yes we had no issues with the Police at all in our 3 months in Guatemala, my comment was based on talking with 2 other guys (separate travellers) on the Stahlratte they got picked on and fined but not exactly sure why.

For the most of it tourists/travellers get away with local law being it is harder to Police, in Costa Rica you are supposed to wear all the hi viz stuff and numbered but not once did the Police say anything to us.

I consistently see more of these types of scenarios discussed on this forum and the HUBB - they paid a fine/bribe but they're not exactly sure why?!?

I know I'm jumping to conclusions, but it seems that some travelers go into a police stop with their first assumption being that they will be shaken down for money. If you've not done anything illegal, then there should be no fine. If you reward the cops by handing them a gift of money, they are much more likely to continue to stop future travelers with the expectation of free money. Please don't contribute to that. Instead, go into a police stop with a big smile, lots of patience, and a plan to just have a chat with the police. I know that it may not always be a perfectly pleasant situation, or a perfectly un-corrupt cop, but you as the traveler have some control over what transpires.

Some of this is stemming from a few travelers looking at a police stop in northern Argentina as a toll booth (see thread on the HUBB), when the intent of that thread is to prevent that exact thing from happening. I apologize for letting my frustration from that spill over here. [/rant]

Back to the thread at hand - it helps knowing the laws of each country that you're riding in. Thanks GuateRider for keeping us informed as to what's happening in Guatemala!

cusutewy ..... dude settle down and chill we have NOT had one issue with any police anywhere on our entire trip and we have not offered a bribe anywhere nor have we needed too and never will so your rant has fallen on deaf ears here.

It was their fines so I didn't bother asking, none of my business.

So any other input on stuff is cool but leave your guns at home or go bomb the HU thread that frustrates you.

Julio, sorry bout this, only mentioned what had been discussed.