In a bid to curb the profusion of motorcycle-riding bandits, Guadalajara City Councilman Luis Cisneros Quirarte has presented an initiative that would ban motorcycles up to 500cc with two passengers from the Guadalajara city center and other popular areas of the city.
In this kind of crime, fashioned on the Scippatori prevalent in many Italian cities, drivers of motorcycles pull up beside their chosen targets, allowing the rear-seat passenger to snatch their phones or handbags, before weaving their rigs through traffic in quick getaways.
The proposal would prohibit second riders on bikes int the Historic Center of Guadalajara, as well as along the Paseo Chapultepec and the Providencia zone of the city.
Guadalajara authorities say they have had promising dialogues with motorcycle clubs, which have expressed concerns that such regulations tend to stigmatize all bike riders.
The proposal also seeks to clamp down on these crimes by a regularization or amnesty program to register all motorbikes that are circulating without documentation and, in some cases, license plates. The task is complicated due to the fact that many of the bikes used by the bandits have been stolen.