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Why licensing bicyclists is impractical

September 19, 2011 @ 6:43 pm (Updated: 6:53 pm - 9/19/11 )

Licensing bicyclists is not a solution to any public safety issue facing Seattle.

That statement is from a reader, in response Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn's call for a car-bicycle safety summit and your conversation last week here about the idea of requiring cyclists to have a license.

"The fact is that most Americans worship automobiles, and when you worship something, all rationale goes out the window. When a man dies of AIDS, he deserved it because he lived an alternative lifestyle, and when a bicyclist is killed by a car, he deserved it because he utilized alternative transit. This is more or less where we are as a society. It saddens me, but I am powerless to stop it," says Seattle Rex, whose legal first and last name is Rex.

On his news and opinion site, he wrote an explanation for why licensing cyclists is not the answer. Here are some of his reasons:

It is Technically Infeasible

Every automobile manufacturer in the world designs their cars with license plates in mind while 0% of bicycle manufacturers do the same. Were Seattle to pass a law requiring license plates for bikes, few bicycle manufacturers, if any, would start a production line for a single city of 600,000 people.

It would similarly be impossible for the city or state to mass-produce plates that would be consistently mountable/viewable on all models of bicycles.

Assuming that the state mandated the use of an alternative plate, such as a sticker mounted on the downtube, the numbers would be so small as to be unreadable by most passersby.

Bicycles Are Human-Powered

Licensing human-powered transit would be difficult at best, and impossible at worst. Skateboards, bicycles, rollerblades, unicycles, tennis shoes — there are many ways to get from Point A to Point B in a major city.

In order to truly be consistent and transit-agnostic, we would have to license pedestrians. After all, here in Seattle, there are far more Pedestrian vs. Car fatalities than there are Bicycle vs. Car fatalities. Between 2000 and 2009, 398 pedestrians were killed in Seattle.

Perhaps we will see a day when everyone wears a shirt with their pedestrian ID on the back, but I doubt that will happen soon.

Automobiles Are Uniquely Dangerous to Public Safety

Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death among children worldwide and are the sixth leading preventable cause of death in the United States.

How many people are hit and killed by bicyclists each year?

We don’t know. I’m sure it happens, but It’s such an uncommon occurrence that statistics are not even kept. Same goes for people hit by joggers, skateboarders, rollerbladers, etc.

A 4,000 lb vehicle with 250 horsepower is a far greater threat to civilian safety than a 25 lb vehicle producing 0.3 horsepower (max sustainable by a human).

Postulating an equivalency between bicycles and automobiles as they pertain to public safety can only be accomplished through a complete abandonment of abstract thinking.

Rex describes himself as a lifelong cyclist, both as transit and as a profession. As a bike messenger he was hospitalized three times over the course of his career after being hit with motorists' car doors.

"I don't have a monetary, professional, political interest in the whole Bike vs. Car thing," he says. "I'd genuinely just like to see Seattle become a safer place for cyclists and everyone else for that matter because I live here and I love the city."

BikeMessenger

While Seattle has focused on car-bike safety, a study out of New York today finds bicylists injure about 1,000 pedestrians a year in that state. According to the study authors from Hunter College, the actual number of accidents is "far higher" because the figures only include pedestrians who were treated at hospitals.

The study was conducted on behalf of the Stuart C. Gruskin Foundation. He was a 51-year-old Gruskin was killed by a delivery biker who was speeding in the wrong direction on a New York City street.

(Photo by Joseph Bergantine)

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (34)


  • Add A Comment

  • sghouse wrote...
    What a load..
    September 19, 2011 7:09 pm
    you don't license the bicycle, you license the cyclist. A nice reflective sticker on the helmet should do fine (or make it velcro for those who change helmets regularly). As far as pedestrians, they don't need to be licensed because they aren't out there riding down the center of the lane impeding traffic because "they have a right to be there"
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  • HikerACE wrote...
    Counterpoint.
    September 19, 2011 7:10 pm
    It is Technically Infeasible - No, a sticker is just fine. No need for expensive plates. It can be color coded like car tabs so that officials can see it is at least current. If stopped it can also be viewed.

    Bicycles Are Human-Powered - So? The point is that bikes are requiring costly adjustments to the road system and should at least contribute to those costs. Tennis shoes and skateboards do not increase costs to the road system.

    Automobiles Are Uniquely Dangerous to Public Safety - So? We are not asking bikes to be insured. What does this have to do with the costs for road improvements for bikes and licensing them?

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  • HikerACE wrote...
    sghouse
    September 19, 2011 7:15 pm
    Guess I was typing the same time you were. Licensing the cyclist would help solve the issue of minors needing to license a bike, which I don't think minors should have to do.
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Want to ride on the streets of Seattle? Here's my opinion on this issue:
    September 19, 2011 7:34 pm
    Cyclists should wear bright yellow jackets, with reflective tape. Across the back of the jacket, in reflective tape, each cyclist would mark his or her "licensed cyclist" number. The bright yellow jackets and reflective tape would improve visibility, which is the number one safety problem for cyclists. (Maybe following riding around after dark without a headlight or tail light).

    The licensed cyclist number eliminates the cloak of anonymity that allows the radical minority of cyclists to ride in an anti-social, scofflaw manner. If a cop spots a cyclist blowing through a red light, for example (very, very, common in Seattle), the cyclist isn't going to "get away with it" by riding down a flight of steps or down some 3 -foot wide trail where the cops can't follow in their car.

    I think cyclists who respect the traffic laws and ride safely and responsibly are great. Those who think they are so special that none of the laws apply to them are a discredit to the majority of cyclists.

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  • Kitsapbass wrote...
    Good post Chuck.
    September 19, 2011 8:00 pm
    Especially your last paragraph.
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  • Answer42 wrote...
    ...it would be like licensing (taxing) pot.
    September 20, 2011 5:36 am
    Furst off, Bravo Chuck Gould! It explodes every argument in the article. You should run for mayor like OTMILKR suggests.

    Anyway, my post-title was intended as another bullet-point in the article. Licensing the problem is not the solution to the problem. It doesn't identify if it is right or wrong, so in the context of Rex Rex's rant it is silly.

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  • Hank Reardon wrote...
    Sales tax
    September 19, 2011 8:14 pm
    Since Democrats feel there is no adverse affects of taxes, how about a 20% sales tax on all bicycle and bicycle accessories. I am sure Greenlake cycle will see no drop in business with a sales tax like that.
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  • shivermetimbers wrote...
    Bike This
    September 19, 2011 9:43 pm
    Go ahead, ride your bike. I'll drive my car. Somewhere in the middle there is peace.
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  • timwack wrote...
    Cyclists Need to Be Licensed
    September 20, 2011 4:34 am
    As with any other group, there are the law abiders and there are the arrogant elitists and it's the latter that has caused such ill-will between drivers and cyclists. So, you opt to pedal your way around, getting drenched, getting sweaty, saving the earth--wonderful! But it doesn't give you the right to ignore the laws the rest of us have to follow. You are sharing the road, not owning it. A license would give a piece of ownership, a contract to "play by the rules". I've seen too many red lights run by "oh that doesn't apply to me" cyclists in my time. The time I barely missed hitting a guy who came flying out of nowhere at night with no lights is still fresh in my mind. Walk your dog on the street: need a license. Drive a car on the road: need a license. Ride a bike--free ride. License the bikes, riders, whatever...then use THAT money for bike lanes, improvements, etc.
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  • adiru wrote...
    Question
    September 20, 2011 6:46 am
    "Were Seattle to pass a law requiring license plates for bikes, few bicycle manufacturers, if any, would start a production line for a single city of 600,000 people." Aren't there already states that require licensing? I highly doubt that the bicycles sold there are customized for attaching plates or that the residents are restricted to one or two models of a Schwinn that are specially built.
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  • awbitf wrote...
    By Rex's rationale
    September 20, 2011 7:09 am
    you don't need to license trailers, because they don't have their own power source. Yet we do, by an annual sticker. He's making the terrible assumption that a bike license plate is going to look just like a car license plate.

    As a pedestrian that got clipped by a cyclist while I was on the sidewalk, I fully agree with the above mentioned helmet sticker solution.

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  • hnuh wrote...
    WOW
    September 20, 2011 7:37 am
    All those reasons! Gee whillakers! What a fart smeller...er... smart feller! Golly! License those people! Make them identifiable and responsible. That is what bicyclists lack, and what causes some... many of them to behave so abominably on the road. They are anonymous and not subject to any enforcement of the rules of the road. Couple anonymity with a strong sense of self righteous victimhood and you get the militant bicyclist.
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