Senators yesterday approved a law banning the importation of two stroke engine motorbikes and allowing four stroke engine motorbikes to be brought in.

The Motor Cycles and Auxiliary Bicycles (Special Measures of Control) Amendment Act takes effect in 2003 and is designed to cut down on noise and air pollution caused by the two-stroke bikes. Government also says that the larger four stroke bikes would be safer.

Also passed in the Senate yesterday was a bill making installers of illegal tints on car windows liable to stiff fines. Prior to the new law, only the car owners were liable when caught.

Government Sen. Victoria Pearman, who steered the law through the Upper Chamber, said people were willing to pay to have the illegal tint installed, taken off for Transport Control Department (TCD) inspections and reinstalled after the car had gone through TCD.

But the amendments to the Motor Car Act also relaxed standards for consumers by allowing a darker tint to be put on rear windows, prompting concern from Opposition Sen. Leonard Santucci that installers might find themselves on the wrong side of the law for making an honest mistake.