Part 1
I think Londondrz basically nails it but I'm going to respond to Hillsideresident's post anyway as I think it would be good to have some information and debate about licensing cyclists.
firstly, I think it is bizarre that anyone should be able to use the road without insurance.
Ok, as long as it is uniformly applied, in which case only pedestrians with insurance would be able to cross roads. Let's not stop there, let's mitigate all risk and insist that all people take out personal liability insurance to cover everything they do. Motorists are insured because of their potential to cause significant damage and personal injury through operating a large, heavy vehicle often at high speed. Neither cyclists or pedestrians carry the same level of potential. Statistics from road traffic/pavement incidents support mandatory insurance for motorists. Statistics from road traffic/pavement incidents do not support mandatory insurance for cyclists or pedestrians.
It is also evident that plenty of cyclists either do not know the highway code or couldn’t care less.
Certainly right that some dont...and the same can be said for motorists and pedestrians. Licensing motorists hasn't changed that.
I also think it is unreasonable that car-drivers and motorcyclists have to pay a tax to use the road, but cyclists don’t.
Done this bit. Horrifically widely held misunderstanding of the facts. Still dont understand your subsequent post about motorists paying to use the road. How?
[quote]I would suggest that cyclists would have to have a licence to ride a bike on the road, and before they get the licence they would have to pass a cycling proficiency test. Then they would renew the licence each year by paying a fee of whatever amount, it needn’t be much, part of which would go to administer the scheme, and part would go on insurance.
Why? Where is the justification for all this faff? How do you apply it? Is it only for adults? In which case do kids have to carry proof of age/ID to claim exemption? Is this the end to sharing bikes (as it'd prevent individuals being pinned to registration numbers)? Bikes are more transient in ownership and use than cars. Are we licensing the cyclist, the bike or both? Why are the licensing rules more stringent for cyclists than motorists. How are you really going to fund the scheme? You can't charge it all to people who cycle as it would be so extortionate that it'd end cycling as a means of transport. Where is the justification of that cost? Of the countries that have had licensing of bikes/cyclists many/most have scrapped it as the costs were too high, the schemes too difficult to administer and provided little or no benefit. In countries where licensing remains many are acknowledged as being costly and with little benefit and many are under review.
Then the law would have some leverage. If the police pull over a cyclist on the pavement now, it’s a meaningless £30 fine. With licensing, if the cyclist breaks the law he would lose points from his licence or have it withdrawn. If he cycles without a licence, that would be a serious offence, just as it is for a car-driver or a motorcyclist. There would be some point in the police taking action, just as they do for everyone else.
Firstly, laws aren't easily created, they are costly and complicated to draft and maintain so they need serious justification. Where is this? So we license cyclists and some of them have them withdrawn, how do we know, will the police be routinely stopping cyclists to check, do they have time for this? Cycling without a licence would be a serious offence? Why? What are the likely possible consequences of someone doing so (we have a good few years of evidence to base the answer to this one on)? Do you really believe the extra potential workload on the police is justified? Take a look on this forum alone and you'll see comments expressing surprise at how disinterested the police can be in crimes more serious than someone cycling on a pavement. Citizen action, reporting cycling misdemeanours? You'll have a licence plate number so why not? Try it now, call the police with the registration number next time you see a car speeding or jumping a red light (or even mounting a pavement) and see what response you get. Tell them you have 3 independent witnesses to the crime, see if the response is any different.
Search
Help
| 
