I was reading an article on the Chicago Huffington Post website regarding a push to begin a city-wide bicycle registration and license process. While the initial argument suggests the legislation would improve erratic cyclists from breaking the law, I have to disagree.
History shows us that making "law" does not prevent those from breaking it. Take a look at state speed limits for instance. If I saw every car on I-70 driving in unison at the state mandated 75mph speed limit from Eagle to Avon, I would believe in the power of creating laws to counter reckless behavior on the road. Same goes for turn signals when changing lanes. On most mornings, I-70 looks more like a Sunday afternoon on a Nascar Speedway.
Cyclists, as vehicle defined users of the road, are already responsible for adhering to the rules of the road that cars must follow. Stop signs, red lights, speed limits, right of way and signaling to make a turn to name a few. Interestingly enough, when a driver sees a car blow through a red light, the common thought is: "Oh man, a cops going to get them..." End of instance. However, if a cyclist runs a red light, we become a demon on the road who doesn't deserve to grace our presence on the angelic mix of gravel and concrete.
Last week, Canadian artist Mathieu Lefevre was killed in NYC when a flat bed truck made a right hand turn into his path. Details of the incident are still under "investigation", mostly by the citizens of New York, as the NYPD jumped to the conclusion that Lefevre rolled through a red light illegally and in doing so, was the cause of his own death. The family of Lefevre planned on rallying at the NYPD precinct where they have been unable to obtain any cooperation in the "investigation".
Strangely enough, if Lefevre had in fact rolled a red light, the big question was raised of: "Wouldn't that have meant the driver of the truck also rolled that light fighting to make that right hand turn?" Ahh, the risks people take to avoid a "No Turn on Red" delay. Initial ruling of the accident by the NYPD showed that the driver, who didn't even stop, was not at fault of the accident as he claimed to not even be aware that he had hit someone. To add injury to insult, when pressed by the public over the incident, the NYPD setup shop at the same street corner, ticketing some dozen or so cyclists for traffic infractions over running through the intersection illegally. If two vehicles ran into each other, chances are one driver will be receiving a traffic infraction for the incident. Sadly, in this case, one user lost his life and the driver receives a "Get out of jail free" card? Expect to see this case evolve in the coming weeks.
Back to the main point of the story. Everyone breaks the law when it comes to using our public highway infrastructure. EVERYONE - drivers, cyclists, commercial drivers, buses, taxis, and yes even Hybrid owners. Prove me wrong otherwise... Creating a license and registration system for the pure intention of cracking down on rogue cyclists is a complete waste of money.
What it should be centered around is improving infrastructure, promoting bicycle use as a transportation method, and awareness. I would be more than willing to pay $10+ a year to directly fund a program creating more bike lanes, bike paths, and the investment into designing more programs like Denver, CO's ever expanding B-Cycle program. Think about it, your investment could save your life or the lives of others.
The toughest part of implementing this type of legislation would be how to enforce it, who to include, etc. Some thoughts were a small license plate hanging from the bike. X that one off the list. Ask a rider with a $10,000 road bike if he/she wants to ride with a miniature aluminum plate jingling off the saddle. A simple numeric ID sticker on the back of the seat tube would suffice. Now do we charge at the initial purchase of a bicycle? Probably wouldn't be a bad idea. This way, registration information can include the purchaser and the product ID for future theft reduction as well as streamline warranty processes. Another tough decision would be to include a percentage of proceeds from "B-Cycle" type organizations to also contribute to the program.
Hopefully moving forward we can find some way to introduce plans improving the safety of drivers and cyclists alike. The key is not to jump into careless, emotion driven programs in an effort to "hold the other user accountable". I truly believe that we can make this work, and that as our population increases past the 7 billion mark, bicycles and other environmentally friendly forms of transportation will become increasing popular especially in crowded urban areas. More so, we need to prevent the further loss of life because enough if enough.
TMP
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