Motorcycle Restrictions and Crime in Colombia

In many low and middle-income countries, motorcycles are the most commonly used means of transportation. Over and beyond their many legal uses, motorcycles are also widely used to commit crimes. While motorcycle restrictions to reduce crime have been adopted in at least 14 countries, we do not know if they are effective. We evaluate the impact of six of these restrictions in Colombia: two that ban male passengers, two that ban any passengers (regardless of sex) and two that restrict motorcycles outright. To identify causal effects on crime, we estimate difference-in-differences models that exploit spatial and temporal variation in the implementation of these measures using georeferenced crime data. In four cases we find no crime reduction effects of these policies. Even when we do identify such effects, they tend to be associated with spatial displacement of crime of equal magnitude, or the results are not robust to different model specifications. Given the high costs of ensuring compliance with these measures, and the costs they impose on ordinary citizens, local authorities should seek out other alternatives to improve citizen security