The Jalisco Human Rights Commission says enforcing a regulation requiring all motorcyclists riding bikes less than 250cc to wear vests bearing their license plate numbers would be unconstitutional.
Commission President Felipe Alvarez said the rule would “stigmatize” those who had to wear the vests and violate Article 22 of the Mexican Constitution. Forcing bike riders to wear reflective vests – as outlined in Article 61 of the state’s Ley de Movilidad (traffic law) – was acceptable, he added.
Representatives of motorcycle clubs have slammed the regulations, which senior Traffic Department officials say are designed to improve safety, and reduce incidences of assaults on citizens by criminals using motorcycles.
A petition calling for the rules to be scrapped has already gathered 7,500 signatures.
Motorcycle clubs say a better move would be to make license plates larger. Representatives say most of their members wear jackets with insignia pertaining to their clubs and use reflective material on their bikes after dark.
Francisco Javier Poe, director of traffic security at the Jalisco Transportation Department (Secretaría de Movilidad), believes the regulations are not discriminatory and that too many motorcyclists flaunt the law, riding without plates, helmets or lights. “People don’t see them, and they get run over and killed,” he said this week.