1995.

Senator Larry Scott (UBP) said that the bill was really an amendment to an earlier amendment.

It will require all first-time riders of auxiliary cycles to pass a test.

"There is a need to bring better road sensibility and conduct on the roads of Bermuda,'' he said.

Sen. Scott said the second part of the legislation concerned livery cycles, used primarily by tourists.

He said it may be discriminatory to insist that residents have to pass a test to ride an auxiliary cycle and not visitors but it was difficult to ask visitors to pass a test when they were only on the Island for a few days.

Meanwhile Opposition Senator Neletha (Honey) Butterfield said the purpose of the bill was to test road users' competence to operate vehicles.

She said the Transport Control Department was already having problems coping with the demands placed upon it.

And it was not clear whether testing will encourage better driving habits.

Sen. Butterfield said programmes like Project Ride have been used in private schools as an incentive for students to bring their bikes to school.

However she said that she hoped that the new legislation would not have the effect of causing some young people to avoid the test and end up breaking the law.

Sen. Yvette Swan (UBP) said that the legislation was not just aimed at young people but all first-time road users.

Dr. Swan said the Ministry of Transport was working on a method to test riders because "it is important all users were competent and confident before they ride''.

Sen. Milton Scott (PLP) said riding an auxiliary cycle was a "rite of passage'' for young Bermudian males who got their first experience at the age of 11 or 12.

He said he believed Bermuda had some of the most skilled riders in the western world but didn't think a written test would ensure better riding.

Sen. Scott said he feared he legislation would be yet another opportunity for young people to run afoul of the law.

He said that since Project Ride was started, the idea had been taken up in some schools and the ministry of transport and Colonial Insurance had come on board.

However he said the Ministry needed to issue a directive that people as young as 11 years old should be involved in Project Ride.

He said the TCD test was not difficult because it did not test a rider's skills when it came to negotiating signs or turns.

Sen. Norma Astwood (Ind.) said the plethora of incompetent road users ensured that young people saw a repetition of bad habits.

She said many young people earned driver's licences overseas at school which meant that they had passed a driving course.

She said Government needed to find ways allow such individuals to transfer the relevant parts of that material to Bermuda.

Sen. Astwood said allowing tourists to ride without licences or demonstrated competence on the left hand side of the road amounted to discrimination against Bermudians.