New York – A state Assemblyman has quickly withdrawn a bill that would require paid registration and license plates for all bicycles in the state, whether ridden by adult or child.
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The Assemblyman, Michael G. DenDekker, Democrat of Queens, said he had been flooded with complaints from people who lived outside the city that they were being taxed and regulated to address concerns about unsafe cycling that existed largely in New York City. The measure had also drawn fire from cycling advocates in the city and elsewhere.
Mr. DenDekker said he planned instead to look into measures “to have stricter enforcement of existing bicycling rules and regulations.” Adding his voice to the growing chorus of complaints about the proliferation of bike lanes in the city, he said that when the government creates a bike lane, “it should be beholden on that municipality to enforce measures of bike safety and to monitor those lanes that they’ve created.”
A City Councilman, Erich Ulrich, has also said he would try to get a city law passed to require identification tags for cyclists, but no measure has been introduced yet. Mr. Ulrich did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr. DenDekker’s decision.
Read more at NY Times (blog)
I don’t care if they are regulated on the City, State or even Federal level, but bike riders must be held accountable for their actions and licensing them would make identification of the dangerous law breaking riders.
As any driver or pedestrian knows, the newly empowered bicylists yield to no one, ride the wrong way on one way streets, stop for no person or traffic device,and ride on sidewalks. As their advocacy group Transportation Alternatives knows, the bicylists have to obey the same traffic law as motorists, yet they do little to advocate for an end to bicycle lawlessness. It’s time for government to rein them in through legislation and strict enforcement.
this is terrible news.
i was all for having each bike that an adult rides be registered.
just for the sake of responsibility and also forcing them to carry liability insurance if they hurt someone.
you all need major head therapy including the sponsor of this bill.Many european countries particularly holland have thousands of riders of all ages .Bikes are not licensed,registered or insured.only a sick-desperate society which is cash starved because of all the money it has squandered on welfare and needless programs would even think to tax bikes.Bikes are good for the economy , health,avoid pollution,and make life easier. don’t spoil the fun in order to keep money coming in
for the welfare class !!
To 1 & 2:
I do not understand how you think registration would make biking safer?
there have been cities that tried it, it failed miserably.
maybe if there NYPD would be stricter for bikers to go by the law we will see changes, and there should also be laws specially made for bikes, cos after all they are not like cars.
Also we need a change of attitude from drivers. Times have changed. Bikers have changed and the roads have changed. Its time that cars consider the bikes!
• do not park in the bike lanes (creates dangerous situations)
• stop cutting bikers off when turning (or when trying to pass another car)
• give some space for the biker to ride, on the roads without bike lines (its the law! bikers can use every road if there is no bike lane, or when bike lanes are blocked), • look before you open a door, make sure there is no oncoming traffic.
• Share the road, be Courteous! it will go a long way.
I happen to be on my bike every day, and i do see most bikers obeying the law, but you do have some that do not stop for lights and drive recklessly, i wont be able to answer for them.
Stay safe! stay healthy! ride a bike!
The Bike lanes in this city have caused traffic congestion and the appurtenant pollution all over the city. The are detrimental to the environment, they wreak havoc on the quality of life of the area residents and were created to stroke the egalitarian ego of the Mayor and his Transportation Commissioner.
Bikers are a protected class in this city because they serve the agenda of those in power.
Commercial Vehicles that may legally double park to expeditiously deliver merchandise are subject to a $500.00 fine for blocking a bike lane, so they block the full traffic lane instead, the ticket is about $400 cheaper.
Bikes dont need to be registered in order to enforce the laws already on the books. If the Mayor would give the cops quotas for ticketing and confiscating bikes just like he does with parking tickets, and towing, the bikers would get the message and comply with the law.
All bike should be licensed and all bikes with over 20″ wheel should have insurance. I was it by a bike yesterday at a stop light. She scratch my car and took off. They ride down the sidewalks and don’t care if they hit the elderly. They ride without lights but if a car does gets fined. How many nights I have near misses with bikes why, no lights.
A licensed bike would show responsibility for the rider since he would now be held accountable. The other good side would be serial number on the license would prevent bike theft since they would not be able to sell them on
On Belgium the bikes have the right of way. Cars are to yield to bike in the bike lane. This way people are more active, less dependant on Arab fuel, and get the exercise they desperately need.
If we had even something similar, we would be in better shape – physically and economically.
Oh! Wait! We are so attached to our fancy cars and live to spend $5 a gallon to fill up the car.
Never mind. Tax and punish the bikes. That will solve all our problems.
#4 for the record, i drive a car once or twice a week and i bike nearly every weekday.
i get to see things from both sides. i can tell you that i had an incident where a food delivering cycler was not looking where he was going , hit my already open drivers side door, fell off his bike , ,then got up, kicked my car and cursed me out. i just stood there dumbfounded. at least if bikes had a plate number i could have possibly complained to the store he worked for or something.
i have also had occassion to see a cyclist knock over a young boy on the wiliamsburg bridge and just ride away. they young boy ended up being taken to the hospital by hatzalah where he needed a few stitches.
as i said, i am both a cyclist and a driver. i can tell you that when i ride my bike, my helmet is on, and belive it or not, i use hands signals as much as i can to alert drivers if i need to move left or right.
i wont blow through a red llight when i am in acar and surely not while on a bike.
the real problem is that there are always bad apples that spoil the bunch…in cyclists and in drivers. however, drivers get tickets and must have liability. cyclists do not have either.
Most of us made an observation that bicyclist are usually totally devoid of any consideration for other people (as well as all other trappings of civilized behavior.) People like that are usually leftists and liberals; they passionately believe in big government. So I was hoping this proposed bill will pass and let them have it! Regrettably, it is now withdrawn. But let us hope that their turn will come. Gut Shabbos!