Chicago To License Bikers?

[lowbike]

This was in Today's Suntimes 10-27-2011
http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhal...-licensed.html

[Seamless]

Ald. Mell has a reputation of badmouthing bike riders. The most experience most alderpersons have with bikers is downtown, where the dense mix of bikes (esp. couriers), pedestrians, autos, cabs and buses can be illuminating, but sampling skewed.

Mell's criticisms, nonetheless, may still have some validity. I have no problem if--and only if--bike riders are treated equally like other users of the same spaces, but that generally doesn't happen in these parts. Cars rarely come to a stop at stop signs, observe turning restrictions, or properly yield to pedestrians (in the absence of crossing guards/traffic assistants), but alderpeople (and police officers) don't get hot and bothered about those examples.

Providing additional dedicated bike lanes would help to decrease such dangerous interactions. But then this is the city that changed clogged one-way streets downtown to install counter-traffic bus lanes, until too many pedestrians were being plowed over.

[kevin_stevens]

Man, talk about crappy reporting. I still can't tell if the proposal is to license bikes, riders, or both.

KeS

[prathmann]

Man, talk about crappy reporting. I still can't tell if the proposal is to license bikes, riders, or both.

KeS

Doesn't sound as if there is any actual proposal - just some offhand comments at a city government meeting.

[john_steed_uk]

Additionally, who would they license? 8-year olds? How would they license people from the suburbs coming to Chicago to ride for one day?
What about people from out-of-state? It is all a bunch of BS. Mell is an idiot.