Congressman Bernardo Rivera explains that he felt motivated to introduce the bill because there is no Transit Law in Honduras, only a regulation dating back to the 1950s, which is clearly insufficient.

"First of all, a regulation does not have the same authority as a law," says Rivera. Since there is no legal definition included in the existing regulation, all cases handled by a civil court instead of by a criminal court.

Accordingto Rivera, his proposal includes the best parts of all the previous proposals made in earlier administrations. Plus, Rivera includes opinions from transit authorities and experts in the field of overland transport.

"We believe that a good Transit Law could reduce accidents by at least 38 to 40 percent, because it institutes a series of measures to improve the driving of all citizens," he affirmed.

The problem Congress has had in approving the law is that all bills are backed up in the slow legislative process, so that Congress approves bills in order of priority and cannot get to all of them.

Rivera's proposal was accepted, but then tabled because, at the time, attention was focused on the Electoral Law and the Law for the National Registry of Persons. Then the Law for the National Autonomous University of Honduras came up, and the Civil Aeronautics Law, the Penal Code, the new Code for Civil Process, and on and on.

Another problem, explains Rivera, is that the National Congress spends all its time on cosmetic solutions sent by the President or on laws directed by the International Monetary Fund or other international credit agencies.

Congress's slowness is a product of the national legal code based on legislation from 1906. The entire system is nearly a century out of date. So, it is necessary that legislation be updated for today's reality considering the modern realities and the changes on the international stage.

Rivera does not believe that there are interests working against the approval of the Transit Law. He says that even the President of Congress, Porfirio Lobo, promised that the law would be approved by June or July at the latest.

Rivera is hoping that the Transit Law will be taken up by Congress as soon as the Law for the University is approved.

Congress is thinking of approving a Transportation Law at the same time, since the two are closely related and can together fill the existing gaps in the national transit system.

With the approval of these laws, the government will be able to establish traffic and transit courts, independent of the Supreme Court, to enforce the new legislation.

A new budget will also have to be assigned to the Transit Police to provide them with all the equipment necessary in enforcing the law. The Transit Police should also receive greater professional training and a uniform that distinguishes them from the National Police.

According to Rivera, the Law should clearly define the procedures for controlling drunk driving so that the Transit Police will have the authority and capacity to administer alcohol tests to suspected drunk drivers and to rely on these tests as evidence in court.

The sanctions for drunk driving, says Rivera, should be severe and should be based on the minimum wage and community service. A person convicted of the crime of drunk driving may pay the fine and then commit the same infraction. But a person who must work in community service will surely think about making the same mistake again.

"We think that if you drive drunk and get your license canceled and have to work for a month cleaning a school, it will be better for society in the long run than if you just pay a fine," comments Rivera.
The congressman is proposing that the legal blood alcohol limit for driving be reduced to 0.05 and that the alcohol concentration in alcoholic drinks be reduced, as has already been done in some cities in Venezuela and Brazil.

"If Yuscarán, a local alcoholic drink, is 42 proof, why don't we lower that to 28 or 30? If rum is 35 or 40 proof, why don't we reduce that to 18 or 20? Honduran beers have the highest alcohol content in the world," asserts Rivera.

To prevent many traffic tragedies from going unpunished, Rivera suggests that Public Prosecutors accompany police patrols to handle any situation, like they do in some cities in the United States. That would prevent people from bribing the police to avoid being cited, as happens commonly now.

According to Rivera, the new legislation's success will hinge on the direct and indirect cooperation of all the agencies and people involved in doing their jobs for the good of society.

The legislators are already considering a six-month time period for the application of the new law, during which all the parties involved will be educated about the new procedures so that no one can claim ignorance.

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