delcrossv

Sorry Roadies, no pelotons for you! (see Section 7)

https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/...0132014/HB/689

CbadRider

A 4" wide x 7" long license plate might be a bit difficult to install on this.

howsteepisit

It looks to me as if its a proposed law at this point, has it been passed into law yet?

That section seven is a hoot - 4 riders at 4' spacing in a single line is just stupid.

delcrossv

It's still a bill, and yes, it's a "hoot".

lsberrios1 

I'm moving out of this state...

wphamilton

I was just discussing it this morning with a co-worker. It's going nowhere, in fact other legislators in his own party are making fun of the bill's sponsor.

I told my friend that I wouldn't mind paying a registration tax as long as it was proportional to the vehicle weight, since wear on the road is proportional to weight. Sounds fair to me. That would come to about a dollar - but this guy wants $15 per year, or $48 for a permanent tag.

The bizarre distance and grouping restrictions he wants are just funny.

Matariki

Interesting that this requirement does not apply to mopeds.

4"x7" plate? Wow! I'd mount it so it sticks out from my left handlebar.

Mr. Rogers looks like he needs to spend some time on a bike.

Also: What would they do about riders from other states? If passed into law, I wouldn't mind taking the bike down to GA to "pass through". "Sorry Officer, I'm from North Carolina and don't need a license".

Velo Vol 

Depends how fat you are.

FenderTL5

Instead of passing one group of riders, he (they) want to pass multiple groups.
They must drive sports cars and like to rev the engine repeatedly.

richardmasoner

A 300 pound cyclist still masses an order of magnitude less than any motor vehicle.

You all are familiar with the 4th Power Rule, right? Vehicle road damage is not proportional just to weight, but by vehicle speed times axle weight to the fourth power.

If you want registration fees proportional to road damage, let’s start with a 1 penny registration fee for a bicycle. A 5000 pound SUV travels at 3x the speed of a fast cyclist, and weighs 25 times as much as a cyclist and his bike. 25 to the 4th power = 390,625; multiplied by 3 = 1,171,875 pennies or $11,718.75.

wphamilton

True but people want to argue with me about the size of contact patch, how rigid the tire is etc, so I just postulate as proportional and I wouldn't mind paying a penny or a dollar.

But now that you mention it, if we had to overpay our fair share by tens of millions of times, I think it would be fair that we get the right of way no matter what the situation is, and ride right down the middle of any street. No red lights for us either - make those freeloading motorists stop even on green lights.

rydabent

So how did that b'crat get his brain damage???? Cant you see cops pulling over a 4 year old and hauling them off to jail for no license? What about poor people that have for or five kids, them shelling out $60 plus dollars a year is unreasonable.

But-------------if that bill passes, any Ga bike rider should ride in the center of a hiway lane and assert his rights as a licensed rider!!!!!!

ItsJustMe

I would love to see licensing proportional to weight and have that include the operator. Let's see how fast the law gets shot down when you tell the population that the vehicle needs to be weight AND the owner needs to register their weight with the DMV as well.

spivonious

Good times there. So the state can come in and say "sorry, Mr. Cyclist, you can only ride on state routes between the hours of 1PM and 3PM on Saturdays.

I wonder what event(s) prompted this legislator to draft this bill.

lubes17319

Yet they choose to ignore the massive peloton of autos seen on a daily basis.

ItsJustMe

Even if this goes through, doesn't matter because you can't constitutionally restrict the right of travel, and travel by foot or bicycle has historically been interpreted as falling under the constitutionally protected right of travel.

mconlonx

Closed door meeting with his ALEC representative...

I-Like-To-Bike

My guess: One or more gaggles of roadies from "out of town" were seen as obnoxious road hogs by the locals of some town(s) they roll though regularly on training rides and the enraged locals are constituents of the legislator. Hence the specific restrictions on peloton riding; the rest of the legislation is meant to rub salt into wounds.

Luckily it is the bike registration fees and administrative burden that will likely kill the proposal. The restriction on roadie formations would probably pass in many places if the bill had limited itself to peloton restrictions.

FenderTL5

All (sponsors/co-sponsors) are from Gainesville... I'd bet there's a catalyst in that area..

RaleighSport

A little research on Mr Rogers paints an interesting picture at least to me.

1: He's an independant insurance agent of some sort which leads me to believe he'd have tendencies more favoring that industry rather than peoples rights to the road.. assuming he sells auto insurance and you get at the least a vested interest IMO.

2: He lists his special interests as travelling, golf, family. Which leads me to believe he's fairly insulated from the mentality of most if not all cyclists or understanding of how their rights work...

To be honest, I'd love to pick his brain.

njkayaker

Many (if not most) states already restrict bicycle riding on roads that are part of the "state highway system".

??? What "restriction" are you talking about? Pelotons aren't consitutionally protected and many states prohibit cycling on certain roads. You might be talking about the registration (you aren't clear) but keep in mind that this is only proposed legislation.

prathmann

Many states place some restrictions on cycling on roads that are part of the "Interstate Highway System." I haven't encountered any prohibitions on cycling on state highways other than a few bridge crossings.

genec

BBBBBut they paid for the road with "road taxes." (didn't you get the bill??)

njkayaker

It's not just interstates or a few bridge crossings.

https://www.state.nj.us/transportatio.../highways.shtm

https://www.dot.ny.gov/display/progr...ism/hwy-bridge

https://www.massrmv.com/rmv/dmanual/Drivers_Manual.pdf

And (ironically) California.

https://www.bikelink.com/law_safety.asp

ItsJustMe

Time of day restrictions. How can they tell me I can't ride my bike in the hour before I have to be to work, for instance?