Mexico’s New General Mobility and Road Safety Law Almost Ready
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Mexico’s New General Mobility and Road Safety Law Almost Ready

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Alejandro Enríquez By Alejandro Enríquez | Journalist and Industry Analyst - Tue, 07/20/2021 - 09:31

Stakeholders and the Mexican senate are developed a new general law for mobility and road safety. The road to the new law formally began with the publication of Constitutional reform in December 2020, following the principles that the constitution grants every person “a right to mobility in conditions of safety, accessibility, efficiency, sustainability, quality, inclusion, and equality."

The decree allowed Congress to legislate in terms of mobility and road safety. The transitory articles of the decree published in December stated that within 180 days, the Mexican Congress should have approved the new "General Law on Mobility and Road Safety." But the 180-day period ended on June 16, 2021 and no law has been approved to date. However, different stakeholders are working to create this new law, including leaders from the heavy vehicle sector.

“We want to acknowledge the efforts of federal authorities and legislative powers on the draft of the General Law of Mobility and Road Safety, as it is linked to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. We welcome this new project, with additional comments and recommendations made by the sector,” said Miguel Elizalde, president of ANPACT, during a press conference last week.

On June 18, 2021, the Mexican Senate introduced the preliminary project of the general law that involved stakeholders from the civil society, the Mexican Senate, the Federal government and other interested parties. "This law will define public policies, sector policies, the National System of Road Safety and Mobility and the criteria for infrastructure, road network, universal design public spaces, transportation services, integrated systems and demand management," published the Senate on a statement. The law will also create basic standards to regulate transit, obtain permits and the minimal conditions to support victims in case of accidents.

The law is also likely to include regulations for ride-hailing platforms, since the country lacks a cohesive norm on this regard. "Currently, the provision of private transport services through platforms is regulated in 17 states of Mexico. Mobility and transport laws of these states generally impose some obligations on transportation network companies and drivers, as well as some requirements for the vehicles used to render private transport services," noted DiDi in its IPO's F-1 form prospectus. Since obligations vary from state to state, ride-hailing business regulation can too be influenced by this new law.

Miguel Elizalde from ANPACT, also pointed out that the law will create a fund that can be used to improve mobility, but in his opinion this fund should not be restrictive to infrastructure. "At the core of the law, should it become necessary to specify the use of the funds that could be created with the new law, these funds could be used for vehicle park renewal besides infrastructure. By producing vehicles with state-of-the-art environmental technologies, we could also contribute to reduce emissions."

Photo by:   Daimler AG

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