City councillors are (once again) considering licensing cyclists—that terrible idea that refuses to die
The city is looking to crack down on reckless cyclists—specifically those who ride on the sidewalk—and apparently they’re prepared to use any means at their disposal. NOW reports that the public works committee, led by noted automobile enthusiast Denzil Minnan-Wong, voted to request that city staff and cops determine how to better enforce bylaws that keep cyclists on the road, where they belong. For his part, Councillor David Shiner suggested the city consider licensing cyclists, an idea that has been thrown around again and again. Of course, city hall long ago concluded it would be too tough a measure to enforce and too expensive a program to run. In effect, it simply won’t work, so please, dear councillors, just give it up. Read the entire story [NOW] »
Easy for you to disagree until some cyclist runs you over cause they feel that they above waiting at Stop signs just like others on the road! On more than one occasion at stop signs and just boarding a Streetcar I have almost been run over by some ignoramus on a Bike and let me tell you it will be very helpful if i can their info so that the Cops can get them!
Exactly Ria. And my grandmother was pushed over by a jogger and broker her hip! When will we license people who think they have the right to run on the sideWALK?!
I’m sincerely sorry for what happened to your grandmother, Joe Tory but your comparison is ridiculous. I see cyclists on a daily basis break the rules of the road (I am myself a cyclist, one that actually obeys laws)and they need to be held accountable. How many times do you hear of a pedestrian or jogger purposefully pushing someone over on the sidewalk. That just sounds like an unfortunate accident.
I think licensing is a great idea. My friend’s mother was hit by a cyclist requiring extensive dental work, and she could have been killed with no recourse and no penalty for the cyclist who took off.
Another friend had her pelvis broken, cyclist stopped and said is she okay, when the response was negative he also took off. While my friend took almost a year to recover, again, no recourse and no penalty for the cyclist!
It’s about time that anyone who shares the road, share the responsibilities that go with that privilege and that includes licensing.
“How many times do you hear of a pedestrian or jogger purposefully pushing someone over on the sidewalk.”
Pedestrian/pedestrian collisions happen about the same rate as cyclist/pedestrian collisions. My other grandmother was run down by a car, which drove away. Licensing didn’t help save her life. But it does cost more, so I support it because it will result in cutting back social programs dear to City Council Communists.
“How many times do you hear of a pedestrian or jogger purposefully pushing someone over on the sidewalk.”
I missed it at first, but you raise a good points. Cyclists usually deliberately hit pedestrians. Fortunately, drivers like Doug Ford deliberately hit cyclists, so it evens out! LOL.
This kind of reasoned debate is why these proposals are never taken seriously.
Creating an entire licensing system for cyclists because you had an incident with an idiot cyclist is not sound planning.
It won’t make it any easier to “catch” cyclists who break traffic laws (which already apply to them), as it still requires police to actually witness it (contrary to what many believe you can’t just call a cop when you see someone run a stop sign and expect the cops to ticket that person – if they don’t see it, they won’t ticket it), and it will create additional costs from the insfrastructure needed to administer the licensing system – an infrastructure that will get all the more costly when cyclists start to abandon their bikes and get back in their cars rather than pay the licensing fees for their bikes.
Of course, all these extra cars on the road will do wonders for traffic in the City, won’t it?
And the biggest reason why this is a bad idea – can any of you honestly say that you trust the geniuses at City Hall to come up with an effective and cost-efficient licensing system for bikes? If so, please point to a recent track record of success in this regard that supports your optimism? This will turn into a costly boondoggle that won’t have any substantial impact on the problem it is purporting to solve.
It always amazes me how conservative politicians at City Hall, who are often quick to claim that City Hall overregulates things, are so fond of jumping on this particular bandwagon. This habit of governing out of spite needs to stop – its not productive.
“It always amazes me how conservative politicians at City Hall, who are often quick to claim that City Hall overregulates things, are so fond of jumping on this particular bandwagon”
Expensive, useless government programs are essential to conservatives, because it creates deficits, which causes service reductions, which causes people to distrust the government. True conservatives like Stephen Harper see the need to spend $30 billion on jets, $2 billion on new prisons, $100,000/day consultants who duplicate the work of government employees… etc. Harris did the same thing, but Snobelen got caught on tape fessing up – so it’s basically public knowledge how true conservatives govern. Look at the USA. Just look at it.
In short, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if council’s conservative vanguard pushes for a big, expensive, probably useless bike licensing scheme. It would certainly take a bite out of the bike lane budget. And it angers cyclists, and pleases angry drivers who like talk radio – what could be better for us true conservatives?
For liability and responsibility purposes I definitely think cyclists should be forced to get a license and perhaps even purchase insurance. What gives one type of ‘motorized’ vehicle the right to disobey the laws of the road while other vehicles must adhere for safety and accountability’s sake? I think a lot of inconsiderate and arrogant cyclists would think twice before engaging in reckless behaviour if the stakes to operate your bike on the road were higher. If cyclists want consideration on the road, then they should be held to the same standards as everyone else operating a motorized vehicle. Otherwise, I personally don’t see them as equal to a car with the same allowances.
How exactly do you conclude that a bicycle is a “motorized vehicle”? And in any event, you also sound like you want bikes licensed because you’re made at cyclists – again, that’s not sound policy.
By the way, bicycles do not have the right to disobey the rules of the road – this is a fiction that ignorant right-wingers keep perpetrating. Bikes on the road are subject to the same rules and by-laws as any car – the problem is enforcement, not licensing. Licensing bicycles won’t solve that “problem” (you can’t legislate against being a jerk, as much as we’d like it if you could) but it will result in a large, costly bureaucratic infrastructure at a time when the city is supposedly broke and is in the midst of slashing City jobs and services. And even with all of that, absent an increase police presence solely to monitor bicycle behaviour, it won’t have any effect on enforcement.
The fact is, the most effective deterrent against bad behaviour by cyclists is the possibility of getting squashed by a car or truck if they do something stupid or dangerous. And even with the number of car/truck collisions with bikes resulting in deaths, you STILL see bad behaviour from cyclists, unfortunately.
Sorry, but the idea just doesn’t hold up to reality.
We should have a stricter licensing system for people in general. There are countless individuals out there endangering our grandmothers’ lives (and those of our other loved ones!!) with their reckless cycling/skateboarding/jogging/segwaying/rollerblading/razor scootering on our crowded city streets. These criminals need to feel the stinging strap of justice across their ignorant backsides!
License these hooligans! After all, we license drivers and when was the last time you heard of someone driving recklessly or endangering anyone’s safety with a motor vehicle? I rest my case.
Jeremy, I detect sarcasm in that last statement. Yes, it’s true that there are far more dangerous drivers out there than cyclists, and I say that as a driver!
But we have to show drivers leniency for speeding, running yellow/red lights, running stop signs, etc. simply because clamping down on dangerous drivers is bad for the economy and makes me late for work.
So instead of better training for all road users and better enforcement of existing rules, we would have a licensing system that would probably cost more to implement and maintain than it would bring in, no effect on road safety or improvement to existing infrastructure for bikes or any road users and on top of the existing bike theft problem, most likely the rise of bike plate theft. Sounds like a winner.
Licensing cyclists is silly. But that doesn’t eliminate the key point of this debate, which is that there are liability issues resulting from a double standard in community practice and enforcement that fosters poor behaviour by cyclists that need to be solved.
maybe going through the process of getting licensed will teach the 80% of cyclists that ride on the sidewalk, run red lights and stop signs and go the wrong way on one way streets that it’s actually against the law
No, joe, because then people would be screaming that drivers should be treated the same way. Sometimes we have to drive the wrong way on one ways, and honestly, who stops at stop signs when there’s no traffic? 80% of drivers don’t. We all run yellow lights, and sometimes I’ve even driven on the sidewalk. Frankly we should just license everyone simply because it will cost a lot of taxpayer money which helps create financial crises.
so because you break the law then it’s ok for everyone else to do it? i’m not aware of many people that feel that sometimes they have to drive the wrong way on one way streets or that it’s ok to drive on the sidewalk. maybe give us a heads up before you go for a drive so we can barricade ourselves indoors
As a cyclist I obey the rules of the road (unusual, I know!) and can only ask that motorists and pedestrians do the same. I know that not every motorist or every pedestrian is a bad driver/walker, despite that fact that everyday I see cars running red lights, or driving in the bike lane, or going the wrong way down a one way street, or pedestrians jay walking, or joggers running in the road (with traffic!?! with their mp3 players on?!? Seriously?), just like not all cyclists are bad. I only ask that people respect my right to be on the road as I respect you. Licensing cyclists is not the way to cut back on bad cyclists (as we’ve seen with bad drivers) since you have to catch the person in the act and, really, how young do you start licensing? 16? 12? 6?
“maybe give us a heads up before you go for a drive so we can barricade ourselves indoors”
Maybe you should open your eyes, you’ve never seen drivers on the sidewalk or going the wrong way, lol? Usually they use the reverse gear, because that way it’s legal.
Here’s another idea – another dangerous aspect of city life, in addition to the cyclists, are the hiphop gangsters who shoot guns in public. I propose we make it illegal to shoot guns at people in public, and perhaps we can look at licensing gun owners.