Foreign owners of fractional units will be able to obtain driving licences and hire cars if new legislation tabled in the House of Assembly on Friday is approved.

The Motor Car Amendment (No. 2) Act 2010 would allow vehicles to be hired out exclusively to tourists living here in vacation homes for part of the year.

There would be one hire vehicle allowed for every ten fractional units on a development — but the Tourism and Transport Minister would be able to vary the maximum number for certain developments with the permission of MPs.

The bill will be debated on Friday, before Parliament breaks for the summer, and last night environmentalist Stuart Hayward warned it should not be "rammed through Parliament in haste".

He said allowing non-residents to hire cars and drive on Bermuda's roads signified a "major policy change" and could have "major ramifications" for the Island.

"Given the existing and growing number of fractional units being permitted, it will exacerbate the problem, already admitted by the Government, of serious traffic congestion," said the chairman of Bermuda Environment and Sustainability Taskforce.

"The Police service is currently not able to control traffic. Speeding and reckless driving are rampant; vehicles exceeding legal noise levels are operated on our roads with impunity.

"If the Government is unable to manage existing road users, how does it expect to manage an entirely new category of road user — non-local car renters?"

He said such drivers may never have driven on the left and would be unaccustomed to Bermuda's uneven and often narrow roads.

Mr. Hayward also suggested that allowing vehicle hire services to operate would cut into the revenue of "an already embattled taxi industry".

He added: "Bermudians deserve the respect of having time and opportunity to discuss and mull over a policy shift of this import and magnitude, not have it rammed through Parliament in haste."

Fractional units are owned and shared by a number of people, who get to occupy the property at different times of the year.

They exist at hotels such as Tucker's Point and Newstead Belmont Hills and are likely to be included in a number of potential new tourist developments, such as the luxury five-star resort proposed for Morgan's Point.

Bermuda Democratic Alliance MP Shawn Crockwell said it made sense to offer a car hire service to those investing in property on the Island.

"Obviously there will be immediate concerns — and I'm sure most people will share them — of increased traffic and congestion on the roads. But these are not your normal tourists — they will be staying here for an extended period of time and coming here on a regular basis.

"Clearly, if a person wants to make that type of investment in a hotel development they will want to know, whilst they are here for a few months, if they are able to have a vehicle.

"The Act says they do have to have a Bermuda driver's licence. I'm comforted by the fact that the individual will have to show themselves to be competent to drive on the road."

It was not possible to obtain comment on the bill yesterday from Premier Ewart Brown, who is Tourism and Transport Minister.

He has previously stated that there are too many cars on Bermuda's roads and said in October 2006: "We must find a way — perhaps unpopular to many and disdained by others — to arrest the increase of cars on our beautiful Island."

A spokeswoman for his Ministry said last night the programme would "add value to fractional unit offerings" in Bermuda.

"The bill seeks to give the Minister authority to issue permits to developers of tourism-related fractional units for the purpose of operating a fractional car hire service and to make fractional unit car hire available," she said.

"In essence, investors buying a fractional unit may be eligible to use a fractional car from the pool of cars that may be available; the developer, however, would have to be licensed to provide such an offering."

The notes accompanying the draft legislation explain that it would amend the Motor Car Act 1951 to prohibit the owner or occupier of a fractional unit from owning or registering a private motor car.

The bill states that fractional hire vehicles would be fitted with distinctive identification marks and could only be driven by individuals who have obtained a driver's licence under the Act.

United Bermuda Party leader Kim Swan said he would reserve comment until his party caucus had considered the proposed amendment.