Originally Posted by Thor29
There is and will never be any reason to require bicyclists to get licenses or to register bicycles. It is quite obvious that requiring drivers licenses for cars doesn't keep idiots from driving, at best it slows them down a little when they have to take the test multiple times. So far every car in existence can be started up and driven whether or not you have a license to drive. Bicycles are not as lethal as cars and it would be a complete waste of money and yet another needless restriction on individual freedom to regulate them in the same way. A better solution would be to require cycling/pedestrian traffic instruction to kids in school. Might as well learn something useful in those prison cells they call "classrooms".
In an ideal world I would agree with you. It's true that requiring licenses doesn't prevent idiots from driving, but it does probvide minimum standards and a means of tracking offenders. There are fewer idiots driving than riding, according to my careful observations. I observed 60 riders from my window and noted that 2 rode vehicularly, while 10 rode on the wrong side of the street and the rest rode on the sidewalk, often swerving into the street. We need to improve that, or accident rates will rise and the government will step in. In the time I observed those bikes, I did not see one cager break a law, although they were far more numerous than cyclists.
And a "waste of money" to register bikes? No, because registration and license fees are
revenue for governments, not expenditures. Bikes not as lethal as cars? Not usually, but they can be.
I agree about requiring education on cycling. Any ideas on how this could be implemented? How much will it cost? How will we pay for it? With user fees on bikes?
The last thing I want to see is license fees, registration, mandatory education for cyclists. But if a massive influx of unskilled riders occurs, what other choices will there be?