AMENDING the Road Traffic Act to mandate motorcyclists to acquire a driver’s licence is an act that is long overdue.

According to Dr Morais Guy, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, the law as it now exists does not require individuals to get a motorcycle driver’s licence. All that they need is a learner’s licence to operate these motor vehicles on our roads.

Therefore, what has been happening is that many motorcyclists just continue renewing their learner’s licence for as long as they wish.

“Currently a man can just buy a learner’s licence, and then ride his bike until a year’s time when that licence expires and just keep renewing it. Therefore, he never has a bike licence. Even though you’re required by law to have your motorcycle registered and licensed, hardly any of that is being done,” Dr Guy told this newspaper on Tuesday.

It’s a loophole in the law that, thankfully, is about to be plugged. For, based on our understanding of what now exists, motorcyclists cannot be ticketed for riding without a helmet, given that the licence they have is provisional, and as such does not carry a Taxpayer Registration Number, which is essential to recording road traffic offences.

The law is also uneven, as anyone holding a provisional driver’s licence cannot operate a motor vehicle on the roads unless they are under the supervision of a licensed driver. That, however, does not apply to motorcyclists.

It therefore makes sense to tighten up this loose end, as motorcycle-related road fatalities, the police have told us, totalled 69 last year.

We had thought that the authorities had addressed this issue in 2011 when Auditor General Pamela Munroe Ellis told the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament that motorcycle drivers were abusing the provisions of the Road Traffic Act.

The auditor general, in her 2009/10 report, had pointed out that, as a result, these motorcyclists are “authorised” to drive although they are not certified competent by the Island Traffic Authority.

Against that background, we support the stated intention of Senior Superintendent Calvin Allen, head of the Police Traffic Division, for a public education campaign directed at motorcyclists.

Senior Superintendent Allen explained that, under the new regime, riders, including those who use motorcycles in their occupation, will have to undergo formal training and be passed by an examiner to obtain their licences.

We expect that there will be some amount of grumbling from the public. However, the authorities should not let that sway them, as the system needs cleaning up.