where have all the motorcycles gone?

Anyone who travels in West Africa knows that motorcycles, or "machines" are ubiquitous. After years of traveling by road around here and always dealing with motorcyclists weaving in and out of  traffic and getting in the way, we were surprised to find that in the big cities here, there are no motorcycles. Instead we saw green taxis and a bunch of these trendy three-wheelers:

I asked our driver why there weren't any motorcycles in the city and he said its because motorcycles aren't safe-they cause too many accidents. Also, its a law to help prevent terrorists from bombing and or shooting up the place. Motorcycles can get away from police and security forces very easily in a busy city. But, its easy to catch these three-wheel vehicles!  I felt a little less safe in the city after talking about terrorism prevention strategies. However, it is good to know they have taken some drastic measures to improve safety and security.