Road Tax for Cyclists

I can see where they're coming from on that one, but its still a terrible idea.  The only way you could hope to sell this to cyclists anywhere is if the tax revenue would go to help fund better and safer bike routes.

edited* puts on flame coat*

I dont know about a tax but i do believe cyclists should have a license (this would also help ID those who get hurt), as this would come with a charge then i guess do support the move. I see too many people who are not qualified/fit enough to ride in traffic. Sorry leisure riding in a 45mph zone should not happen. I am one of these people, as to why i stick to trails. I know people like to show off how much cool gear they have but if you dont know standard safety and are not fit to be on that road you shouldnt be there. And yes i am fully doubtful most people are capable of deciding if they shouldnt be on a certain street. As something like this is very hard to judge I think they are making a good move just imposing an overall cyclist tax which will also help ID people if bikes are registered.

Edited by mkarr0110 2009-09-12 10:17 PM

i do not see anything like this getting adopted in Washington. Our roads are already  paid for by property taxes by cyclists, whether we have a car or not. Not only that but we cause practically no wear and tear to roadways we use so there is no justification for taxing cyclists to pay for the repair of those roads. The article also brings up the point of kids, do they have to pay taxes to ride around their neighborhoods? what about people visiting, do they automatically have to pay as well? Around here anyone can ride on a road and most do. there are no specific "bike trails/paths" only Multi use trails which restrict speed and manuverability due to the pedestrian crowd which rightly uses the trail too. It is hard to do a training ride at 10mph.

Are there some people who should not be cycling on the road because they may not be fit enough yet? sure BUT how many people are driving who should not be? suspended license? Illegal Immigrant with no license? elderly or infirm who is not able to fully pay attention to the road or fully react to changing conditions? Or just those who can't drive/follow the law plain and simple? All of them are still on the road even though they should not be.

I realize this article is from Scottland but I know that here we have the right to travel as we want without restriction but we only have the privilage of driving, hence it can and is licensed because driving a 2 ton vehicle you can easily kill someone if you have not proven you can drive without doing so. ok, well sorry for the little rant, that is a sore subject around Seattle...

Probably only a matter of time before the morons in DC try to pass something like this in America!

Licensing of bicyclists would be state and/or local issue not a national one just as licensing drivers is. 

I'm going to join the other poster in saying I don't think that licensing cyclists for road riding is a bad idea necessarily.  Requiring them to pass a test knowing the laws of their particular state might help to reduce the fury against cyclists from drivers.  I regularly see comments showing how frustrated drivers are that cyclists aren't required to to pass a test and I think paying a few bucks for a license might help the situation. 

If we had licenses then you'd have to have plates on your bike so they could identify you or they would just be able to stop you whenever and wherever they wanted in order to check to see if you had a license.

Do you want to deal with getting stopped on a ride just for them to check your ID? I sure don't I passed/was passed by about 15 cop cars on my ride this morning which was only about an hour. If each of them had stopped me it would have been 3 hours.

A lot of us will not have anything to worry about because THIS administration would tax you based on the value of your bike or how much money you make.  If you make too much, you will pay through the nose.  If you don't make more than the adminstration's arbitrarily set amount, you don't have to pay anything.

Oh wait, I need to switch forums.  Sorry, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Greg

No, I disagree.  Just like a car (the driver's license applies to the person, the plate applies to the bike) the only reason one can get pulled over is based on an offense.  So, if you didn't signal your turn they could pull you over (just like in a car) but you can't be pulled over if you're riding (or driving) lawfully.

ETA: In Colorado you can currently be pulled over by police for not following the law so it wouldn't change that. 

Edited by COSkiGirl 2009-09-13 4:34 PM

I dont think a sliding scale tax based on the expense of the bike would be an issue. It would be a solid permit fee like getting a drivers license. Also if cyclists were paying fees to use the roads, safety issues that cyclists would like addressed would most likely see more attention.

So what is the purpose of licensing bicycles? I know at least they used to do that in L.A.--not sure if that is still the law. When I was a kid we had to pay for a license for our Schwinn Stingrays and the license is a decal on the bike. Back when there were no helmet laws but you had to have a bike license just to ride around the neighborhood. I figured that was a way of collecting money from cyclists. My mom mentioned that they were still doing this at least a few years back when she and my dad bought new bikes. Is there anybody else living where bicycles are licensed, but not the rider? I haven't heard this mentioned in a long time.

I currently live in a college town and think this would be hard to do here because there are SO many people who "casually" ride their bikes to school.  However, I do think that it might be good in some respects because a lot of the college riders do need to know the laws and if making them get a license is a way for them to know the laws than I would be for it.  However, I think if it is something you have to register and pay for they need to do more to have bicycle lanes, clean up where there are bicycle lanes, and help to educate the public about the rights of cyclist and vice versa. 

Yes but plates are used to randomly check to identify the most likely driver of the car. I got stopped a week after I got my license since my car was still registered to my dad at the time and he didn't pay a ticket so his license was suspended. You do not have to do anything wrong to be stopped. Also in the case of cars they assume that a majority of people have licenses. This would not be true on a bike. They can come up with just about any reason to stop in you a car so they could also on the bike. Crossing over the white line is an offense in the car would be it on a bike? if so they would have cause to stop most people every couple hundred feet.

do kids need to be licensed? could kids not ride their bikes on public roads until they are 16?

This would never happen too much hassle not to mention the costs.

I agree maybe it would be nice but never going to happen.