asmac

Ponder away but I don't believe bike registration could ever benefit cyclists regardless of who initiates it.

njkayaker

No, it doesn't work that way.

Your car is registered in one place. The only way that car registration can work is if all jurisdictions register cars.

If you did not have a registration for your car in your state of residence, you wouldn't register it in another state (you would not be allowed).

njkayaker

People keep saying you'd need to register your bicycle in multiple places. You don't do that for cars.

Wilfred Laurier

Nobody said it had to be registered in multiple places - just that if you go from a place where registration is not mandatory to a place where it is, your bike will be non compliant... a cycle tourist riding across the state, for instance, would be breaking the law the instant he crossed into the registration-required state.

njkayaker

That's not correct.

You are also suggesting that it would have to be registered in multiple places (to be "compliant").

Bicycle registration is an idea that falls apart really quickly for many reasons. The likelihood of it being implemented is next to impossible.

Where, exactly, would you put the sticker or plates on a bicycle? Do you really think that cops are going to pull you over to look at a little sticker on your seat tube?

The only way that car registrations work is because car registration is universal. Given that, it would seem to be a near-requirement to implement bicycle registration in the same way.

Wilfred Laurier

My mistake.

Although you seem to be lumping the two arguments together - 'you'd have to register it in every jurisdiction you visit' (which seems unlikely, although an example was given where this is the case for off-road vehicles)and 'non-registering and registering jurisdictions would cause confusion'

njkayaker

Off road vehicles are a different and irrelevant case (as I said earlier). Note that this is done state-wide. It's mostly a fee to use particular areas.

The only way bicycle registration would be enforceable is if it was universal (like it is for cars). The notion that individual cities would provide and enforce registrations is too silly to image it as a possiblity. Cities did/do have registrations but it's an anti-theft measure and, I suspect, very few people register their bikes anyway (this example is also pretty-much irrelevant).

Wilfred Laurier

We can't say for sure if it is irrelevant or not - we are talking hypothetically about some government deciding to impose non-standard registration requirements on a particular subset of road users, and we cannot know what bizarre or nonsensical system they might come up with.

njkayaker

This is silly. It's weird paranoia. It's possible (remotely), like lizard people, but not probable.

asmac

In my misspent youth bike licenses were like miniature stamped metal car license plates that were attached to the back of the saddle where saddle bags go.

Yes... bike registration would have to be universal and that's another reason that it's a ludicrous idea.

I'm not sure what the argument is -- we seem to agree that registration is a bad idea.

asmac

So you're also denying lizard people? C'mon, man!

njkayaker

The only such things I recall where novelty plates. The only registration that I've seen and heard about was stickers. And, as I said, the purpose of registration was as an anti-theft measurement. A weak measurement that was mostly ignored (by owners and cops).

Some of the reasons people are saying registration would be bad make no sense. If people are going to argue that registration is bad, their arguments need to be good ones.

The following is an example of a bad argument. Since it's highly unrealistic, it isn't really a reason that registration would be a bad idea.

asmac

I was trying to be agreeable but it appears we have a difference of opinion. Since registration is often implemented and proposed as a local measure Andy's concern is valid.

Here are some samples of bike licenses. The round hole let you bolt it on to your axle. Coincidentally, Fort Garry was my home town:

njkayaker

No, it's silly. The local registration only had an anti-theft purpose and was never that serious and largely ignored and not enforced. It was never required (practically, at least) because of the obvious problems doing so. It's some other type of registration (not the type that is being discussed here).

Link doesn't appear to work.

jon c. 

We has stickers where I lived, but I recall seeing actual metal plates in other jurisdictions. I recall registering bikes only when quite young (in the 60s). I don't know if the city abandoned the program or if the citizens just stopped participating, but by the time we had graduated to ten speeds I don't remember ever seeing a registration sticker.

njkayaker

The program likely wasn't treated very seriously and the participation rate at the height of popularity was likely low. They all appear to have been anti-theft measures (really not what this thread is talking about). It appears these peculiar programs were concerned with children's bicycles (another reason these programs aren't relevant to what this thread is about).

Likely, these programs were started to demonstrate that police were "doing something" about local bicycle thefts after residents complained.

It doesn't seem the anti-theft program would be useful. These programs were mostly theatre.

Mos6502

What's the worst that could happen if bicycle registration became compulsory?

I'm sure in texas they would make you pay somebody $20 to check that you had a reflector on the back. But I can't imagine it being more of a hassle in other states.

fthomas

I think Costco is wasting their time and pandering to sensationalism and not really creating any meaningful discussion.

If you get caught riding your bike "Impaired" = Under the Influence / Driving While Intoxicated / Driving Under the Influence in California then you are in for as much trouble as a motorist. It is not a good idea to drink and ride!

asmac

Compulsory insurance and paying for bike infrastructure out of license fees could be worse. That's what some people want.

asmac

The Costco magazine regularly features for and against articles on controversial topics -- e.g. vaccinations -- and they do it in a fair-minded, non-sensational manner.

njkayaker

The Costco thing is bizarre. I have no idea what they were thinking or whether they were thinking at all. The people commenting in the thread seem to be mostly opposed. Maybe, it was a slow week. I doubt there will be any consequence.

Vaccinations are at least a thing. Bicycle registration doesn't appear to be.

asmac

True.

I don't know why the pic didn't display. It appears to upload correctly. Here's a link to the source of the photo.
Dave Moulton's Blog - Dave Moulton's Bike Blog - Should bicycles have number plates?*

njkayaker

Insurance companies don't seem very happy to provide car insurance. State governments, it seems, force them to if they want to provide other insurance products in the state. It doesn't seem insurance companies would push for compulsory insurance. Statistically, it would be pointless anyway.

I wouldn't see much of the infrastructure I would be paying for where I ride.

That worked. Linking to that interesting blog is better anyway (with that, people will get something useful from this thread!).

It's not the government making noise about registrating bicycles. It's a few dopey civilian motorists.

njkayaker

ThanksMore weird paranoia.

The "greedy b'crats" have no interest in bicycle registration (there's no real money in it). It's a few dopey civilian motorists. If "b'crats' have any interest, it's to pander to these few dopey motorists.

Leisesturm

A majority of dopey motorists actually and that's, why its a dangerous situation. Look at all the other things we never thought would be challenged. In our lifetime we could see a return to a Civil and Legal landscape more reminiscent of turn of the Century America, rather than 21st Century post Millenium America. Every day more Americans drop out of the Middle Class and into poverty than enter into it. In fact, no Americans leave poverty for the middle class, they leave the Middle Class for the Top 20% class. Bicycling as a means of transportation is exploding among the lower Middle Class who can no longer afford cars or even mass transit, which in most cities runs around $1.5K - $2K/yr. There is more hue and cry to bring cyclists under the heel of Government Oversight, than there is recognition of the fact that an increase in transportation cycling is overall good for infrastructure, air/water, and quality of life in all cities where the increase is taking place. Sadly the most visible sector of increased interest in transportation cycling are, ahem, affluent hipsters. That's you guys. Unless I way miss my guess, busboys don't have a lot of time to post on BF. Most of you won't consider $20/yr up to even $50/yr all that much to pay to "contribute" to society but someone with a negative net worth might. My contention is that even with that revenue stream coming, cyclists will still be unable to make left turns in most parts of the country. They still will not trip traffic sensors. They still will be barred from using the best streets. They (we) will still be second class road users despite paying a fair share, probably more than fair share of the costs of having these roads available.