Since 2021, every year there are 12% more motorcycles circulating in the country, according to the Transit Department of the National Civil Police (PNC), so traffic accidents in which these vehicles are involved have also increased. Between January and February of this year, thousand 111 accidents have occurred, in the same period of 2024 there were thousand 101, and in 2023 there were 1,078, according to the platform for the communication of statistical data of the criminal incidence (Pladeic).
The problem not only impacts mobility, but also overflows the emergencies of health services. The attention to the injured consumes up to 10% of the hospitals budget.
The vehicle park this year began with 5.8 million motor vehicles of all kinds, according to the Superintendence of Tax Administration (SAT). Of these, 915 thousand 542 are private vehicles (15.7%), while motorcycles total 2.8 million (48%), which can be said that There are 32 motorcycles for each car.
Brenda Santizo, spokeswoman for the PNC Transit Department, indicates that in 49% of road accidents that occur in the country there are motorists involved. However, the data that the Play report throws is greater: 61.7%, since between January and February 2025, 1,799 vehicular mishaps have been counted, of which 1 thousand 111 correspond to motorcycles.
The increase of two -wheeled vehicles in the streets and the accidents is a concern, according to Santizo, so they perform operating constants to verify that there is no overload of passengers and objects on motorcycles, that drivers and passengers use helmet, and that the driving license and the circulation card are in force.
They add that 55% of the sanctions imposed on drivers correspond to motorists, mainly for driving without a license. Have also detected that 70% of motorcyclists handle expired license.
Capital problem
In Guatemala City, About 600 motorists have been involved in traffic accidents so far this year, According to Amílcar Montejo, Communication Director of the Metropolitan Transportation Company (Emetra). The mishaps are related to speeding, disrespect to the red light of the traffic light, overload, conduction in the opposite direction, state of drunkenness and poor condition of the tires.
The main sanctions are not using protective helmet, circular on sidewalks, overload, strident sounds, driving in cycle paths and drunk.
Deaths and injuries
Three Guatemalans die every day in motorcycle accidentsa calculation based on the report of 239 people killed in these mishaps between January 1 and March 10 of this year, according to the Registry of the National Traffic Security Observatory (ONSET), of the PNC Transit Department.
In that period, 1,194 mishaps occurred that involved two -wheeled vehicles, which caused deaths and left 699 people injured, an average of 10 per day.
The number of people affected in these facts impacts the public health system, since the attention to the injured the emergencies of hospitals.
In the first week of March, the San Juan de Dios General Hospital suspended elective surgeries due to the increase of patients in the emergency as a result of armed events and accidents, mainly of motorcycle, according to the doctor Érika Pérez, director of the health center.
The impact of the injured hospital emergency is high, because it requires more stretchers, medical staff and equipment to attend them. Also Extend waiting times for other patients.
The most frequent lesions are brain shock, bruises, craniocerebral trauma, limb fractures and spine lesions, chest, abdomen and internal organs, according to the Department of Medical Records of the Traumatology Computer Unit of the Emergency Adult Emergency of the General Hospital.
He adds that every day they serve between 15 and 20 people for motorcycle accidents, figure that increases on weekends, fortnight and end of the month.
The expense for serving one of these patients can go from Q2 thousand to Q50 thousand in the first 10 days of hospitalization, amount that can vary if intensive care is required. There are cases in which orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons and other specialists are involved.
It was reported that patient care for motorcycle accidents It consumes approximately 10% of the general hospital budget.
Expenditure in response to a motorcycle accident ranges from Q2 thousand to Q50 thousand in the first 10 days of hospitalization.
In the Roosevelt hospital, emergency doctors have indicated on previous occasions that one in three injured they receive was driving on a motorcycle. Some enter with serious and, in certain cases, are transferred to intensive care units. For not wearing protective helmet, they arrive with craniocerebral trauma. It is also common that they have fractures in long bones, such as femur and humerus.
Four out of 10 motorists wear helmet
Eight out of 10 people who drive a motorcycle in Guatemala are men, according to the motorcycle study prepared by the National Transit Security Observatory in 2023, which indicates that Six out of 10 motorists are young.
The report is made every five years and offers a perspective on the behavior of those who handle these two -wheeled vehicles in the country. This evidence the little custom of the use of the helmet at the national level, because Only 41% of motorcyclists use it. In companions, the proportion is lower, since in the so -called passenger 1 just 16% is wearing it, and in passenger 2, only 3%.
In Guatemala City it is more frequent to observe motorists with a helmet. The study indicates that 88% of the pilots use it, a figure that falls to 31% in the province.
Santizo says that the Transit Law regulates the use of the helmet for both the pilot and the passenger, provided that they circulate on public roads (article 94), and that carrying it can save their lives in case of accident.
The main distracting of motorists is to carry oversized objects in the vehicle (68%), which prevents visibility. They are also distracted when using the cell phone (32%), according to the study.
70% of motorcyclists handle expired license.
MOTORCYCLE REQUIREMENTS
The spokeswoman of the Transit Department indicates that, to conduct a motorcycle, an M type license is needed and that, to obtain it, the person must present a certificate of view of the view, approve a theoretical and practical evaluation in the vehicle driver evaluation centers (CECOVES), to know the transit law and its regulations, in addition to having a minimum of 15 hours of practice.
Drive responsibly
“Motorcycles are an easy driving and practical vehicle, but they have their risks,” says Eddy Villa de León, motorist and organizer of the fox caravan. He adds that Ignorance on the Pilot Traffic and inexperience regulations They are the main causes of accidents.
He mentions that activities have been organized to promote road education among bikers, but there are few who attend. He considers that the accidents observed in the streets is a consequence of disrespect for traffic standards.