Haiti recorded 35 serious road accidents between October 19 and 25, leaving 9 people dead and 83 injured, according to a provisional weekly toll published by HaitiLibre. Among the victims were a 3-year-old girl who died and a 13-year-old girl who suffered a head injury.

The crashes happened across the country: Montagne Noire, Delmas 31, the corner of Rigaud and Geffrard streets in Pétion-Ville, Pèlerin, Canapé-Vert and Tabarre in the capital region, but also Biennac in Gonaïves, Haut-du-Cap, Hinche, Cavaillon and Morne Casse near Fort-Liberté.

The toll comes days after former prime minister Evans Paul, writing for the ABC movement in an opinion piece published by Rezo Nòdwès on October 26, called for urgent regulation of motorcycles and tricycles. “The motorcycle is not the problem in itself,” he wrote, blaming the lack of effective rules.

Paul urged the authorities to register, insure and inspect motorcycles and to enforce the highway code. He cited estimates that about 70% of motorcycles on the road are neither registered with the tax office nor insured, and police statistics attributing 55.9% of road deaths to motorcyclists. Those figures come from his column and could not be checked independently.