GTcommuter
A small Gwinnett County town north of Atlanta is considering bike licenses due to some recent bicycle-pedestrian injuries. Although the law failed to pass earlier this summer, the city councilman has rewritten it to include just THREE roads in the city. Hopefully it will get defeated again and not give any other cities ideas.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berkeley Lake considers tagging cyclists
Bicycle registration could be first in Ga.
By MARK DAVIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/21/05
Could this be the end of Le Tour de Lac?
Related:
• The text of the proposed ordinance is available online at: www.berkeley-lake.com /dcforum/DCForum ID5 /542.html.
• The Berkeley Lake City Council meets at 7:30 p.m. today at Berkeley Lake Chapel, 4043 S. Berkeley Lake Road.
The Berkeley Lake City Council is scheduled to consider a proposed ordinance that would require both resident and nonresident bicyclists who ride selected roadways in Berkeley Lake to get a license for their two-wheeled vehicles. The tag, posted prominently on cyclists' machines, would make them easily identifiable to cops and citizens, providing an easy ID for citations issued to errant pedalers.
If approved, the ordinance might be a first in Georgia, according to a statewide municipal organization.
Proponents say Berkeley Lake needs the ordinance to make its narrow roads safer.
"We're not anti-bike," said Councilman Bernie Cohen, the chief advocate of bike licensing. "We just want them to slow things down."
The proposal strikes at cyclists' civil liberties and ought to be quickly run off the road, opponents reply.
"We could end up banned from roads," said cyclist Jeff Pinnell, who fears other cities might follow the west Gwinnett town's example if the ordinance becomes local law. "It could be Norcross, Duluth or Lawrenceville next."
Second try
Cohen initially sponsored a bike licensing proposal last month, but among some council members it proved as popular as a flat tire. It failed to pass, so Cohen has revised it.
The altered ordinance no longer includes a provision requiring all bikes to be inspected by the city.
Entitled "Traffic Control — Bicycles," the proposed ordinance would require licenses for any cyclists wanting to ride along Lakeshore Drive, Ridge Road or Little Ridge Road. Proponents say the legislation would help enforce the city's 25-mph speed limit on those roads.
The ordinance would take effect Sept. 1 and apply to cyclists 12 years old and older. Cyclists would have to pay a license fee, set by the council, and renew it annually.
The city needs to do something to make the streets safer, said Michael Matton, who lives near the corner of Little Ridge and South Berkeley Lake roads.
Cyclists "come zipping through the neighborhood," said Matton, who thinks bike lanes would be better than a licensing law. "I've got a running bet with my wife that someone is going to get killed within the next 12 months."
The roads are narrow, agreed Eddie Sun of Norcross. Monday evening, he and about 25 other cyclists met at a Duluth bicycle shop to grind out about 25 miles on their machines. Their route included Berkeley Lake.
"It's nice, pretty there," Sun said. "It's good training there, too."
Perhaps too good, Cohen said. About six weeks ago, a Berkeley Lake resident Cohen knows was walking her dog and didn't hear the cyclists who approached over a hill. One struck her, sending cyclist and pedestrian to the hospital, he said. Word about the accident spread, prompting some residents to call for a license law, Cohen said.
"Those I've asked have been in favor of it," he said.
'Shockingly unpopular'
Cohen needs to talk to more people, said Elizabeth Fulton, director of communications for the Washington, D.C.-based League of American Bicyclists. The 125-year-old organization is affiliated with more than 600 bicycle clubs nationwide.
She predicted that Cohen was likely to discover that his legislation is about as well-received among cyclists as a face full of exhaust fumes. A New York City Council member recently suggested a comparable measure, "and it was shockingly unpopular," Fulton said.
Laws are already in place to deal with scofflaw bicycle riders, she added. "It seems that [traffic enforcement can] be easily accomplished by a police officer," Fulton said.
Berkeley Lake has no police department of its own, but has a contract with the Gwinnett County Police Department, whose officers patrol the town's roads.
Licensing bicycles doesn't appear to have gained much traction elsewhere in Georgia. Officials at the Georgia Municipal Association, which represents more than 500 Georgia communities, say they do not know of another city or town in the state that licenses bicycles.
Cohen knows he's probably rolling into new territory, and may get fussed at by resident and nonresident two-wheelers, but that's OK.
"I don't care if they do get mad," he said. "If the community doesn't want it, it won't go through."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berkeley Lake considers tagging cyclists
Bicycle registration could be first in Ga.
By MARK DAVIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/21/05
Could this be the end of Le Tour de Lac?
Related:
• The text of the proposed ordinance is available online at: www.berkeley-lake.com /dcforum/DCForum ID5 /542.html.
• The Berkeley Lake City Council meets at 7:30 p.m. today at Berkeley Lake Chapel, 4043 S. Berkeley Lake Road.
The Berkeley Lake City Council is scheduled to consider a proposed ordinance that would require both resident and nonresident bicyclists who ride selected roadways in Berkeley Lake to get a license for their two-wheeled vehicles. The tag, posted prominently on cyclists' machines, would make them easily identifiable to cops and citizens, providing an easy ID for citations issued to errant pedalers.
If approved, the ordinance might be a first in Georgia, according to a statewide municipal organization.
Proponents say Berkeley Lake needs the ordinance to make its narrow roads safer.
"We're not anti-bike," said Councilman Bernie Cohen, the chief advocate of bike licensing. "We just want them to slow things down."
The proposal strikes at cyclists' civil liberties and ought to be quickly run off the road, opponents reply.
"We could end up banned from roads," said cyclist Jeff Pinnell, who fears other cities might follow the west Gwinnett town's example if the ordinance becomes local law. "It could be Norcross, Duluth or Lawrenceville next."
Second try
Cohen initially sponsored a bike licensing proposal last month, but among some council members it proved as popular as a flat tire. It failed to pass, so Cohen has revised it.
The altered ordinance no longer includes a provision requiring all bikes to be inspected by the city.
Entitled "Traffic Control — Bicycles," the proposed ordinance would require licenses for any cyclists wanting to ride along Lakeshore Drive, Ridge Road or Little Ridge Road. Proponents say the legislation would help enforce the city's 25-mph speed limit on those roads.
The ordinance would take effect Sept. 1 and apply to cyclists 12 years old and older. Cyclists would have to pay a license fee, set by the council, and renew it annually.
The city needs to do something to make the streets safer, said Michael Matton, who lives near the corner of Little Ridge and South Berkeley Lake roads.
Cyclists "come zipping through the neighborhood," said Matton, who thinks bike lanes would be better than a licensing law. "I've got a running bet with my wife that someone is going to get killed within the next 12 months."
The roads are narrow, agreed Eddie Sun of Norcross. Monday evening, he and about 25 other cyclists met at a Duluth bicycle shop to grind out about 25 miles on their machines. Their route included Berkeley Lake.
"It's nice, pretty there," Sun said. "It's good training there, too."
Perhaps too good, Cohen said. About six weeks ago, a Berkeley Lake resident Cohen knows was walking her dog and didn't hear the cyclists who approached over a hill. One struck her, sending cyclist and pedestrian to the hospital, he said. Word about the accident spread, prompting some residents to call for a license law, Cohen said.
"Those I've asked have been in favor of it," he said.
'Shockingly unpopular'
Cohen needs to talk to more people, said Elizabeth Fulton, director of communications for the Washington, D.C.-based League of American Bicyclists. The 125-year-old organization is affiliated with more than 600 bicycle clubs nationwide.
She predicted that Cohen was likely to discover that his legislation is about as well-received among cyclists as a face full of exhaust fumes. A New York City Council member recently suggested a comparable measure, "and it was shockingly unpopular," Fulton said.
Laws are already in place to deal with scofflaw bicycle riders, she added. "It seems that [traffic enforcement can] be easily accomplished by a police officer," Fulton said.
Berkeley Lake has no police department of its own, but has a contract with the Gwinnett County Police Department, whose officers patrol the town's roads.
Licensing bicycles doesn't appear to have gained much traction elsewhere in Georgia. Officials at the Georgia Municipal Association, which represents more than 500 Georgia communities, say they do not know of another city or town in the state that licenses bicycles.
Cohen knows he's probably rolling into new territory, and may get fussed at by resident and nonresident two-wheelers, but that's OK.
"I don't care if they do get mad," he said. "If the community doesn't want it, it won't go through."