I tried to make a case for licensing bicycles, a practice more and more states and cities are adopting, in the following letter published recently in the Register-Guard. I have come to the view that only the threat of withdrawing the privilege of cycling on our paths and streets will change scofflaw behavior.
“I watched two bicyclists breeze through three red lights in downtown Eugene yesterday afternoon, an infraction I see all too frequently. So I, an avid cyclist, support Marlene Cook’s letter of August 21 calling for the licensing of bicycles but for different reasons. In addition to supporting the maintenance of Eugene’s bicycle network, license fees could have the following additional benefits:
Licensing could be done in a manner (embossing the license number on the bottom of the frame) to make is easier to track and recover stolen bicycles
Fees could pay for the production and distribution of a booklet distributed at licensing that would explain the rules of the road and common courtesies for cyclists too rarely observed in Eugene.
Repeated serious infractions (running red lights) would be cause for suspending the license.
Such a program would contribute to the safety of cyclists and calm the nerves of those who fear a deadly collision with scofflaw cyclists on our streets. The bikes of cyclists 12 years old and younger would not require licenses. Students would pay only half of whatever fees are charged.
It’s also time to remove the option of bike riding on sidewalks in areas of the city heavily used by pedestrians. The greatest danger to us pedestrians in the Midtown and Downtown zones of South Eugene is not automobiles. It is….cyclists.”
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