Honduras bans passengers on motorcycles

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Honduran officials moved to ban passengers riding on the backs of motorcycles after two high-profile slayings this week.

Legislators approved the ban late Wednesday, The New York Times reported.

The measure came after Alfredo Landaverde, former anti-drug and security adviser to the government, was killed in the capital city of Tegucigalpa Wednesday and radio journalist Luz Marina Paz Villalobos and her driver were killed Tuesday. Suspects in both the cases were passengers on motorcycles, who got away.

The ban will last for six months at the request of President Porfirio Lobo, the BBC reported.

"We know it is going to affect a certain part of the population," said congressman Erick Rodriguez, adding that the country had to take steps against hired killers.

Honduras has the worlds highest homicide rate at 82 per 100,000 people a year, the report said.