Cycling Licence Scheme

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Comments

  • Bugly
    Bugly Posts: 520
    my god what a lot of self rightoues prats. Cyclists contribute to accidents - education testing and enforcement would all help reduce the road toll.

    Your arguments are like car drivers lambasting defensive driving courses. The truth is all road users need to stay current with road rules obey them and to ride and drive defensivlely.

    If licensing saves one life I am for it.
  • feel
    feel Posts: 800
    [quote="Bugly"

    If licensing saves one life I am for it.[/quote]

    I think licencing would cost more lives than it saves and would also have detrimental effects on traffic congestion and air pollution. Reason being is that if you require a licence to ride a bike far far fewer people will ever learn to ride. Consequently there will be no political lobby for cyclists and no reason to build cycle paths or cycle lanes etc. Fewer vehicle drivers will have experience of cycling which will make them less aware of the problems of cycling. Cyclists will find themselves in a more hostile environment.
    Fewer cyclists will also mean more cars on the road.

    I think your "self righteous prats" comment shows a lack of thought.
    We are born with the dead:
    See, they return, and bring us with them.
  • Cunobelin
    Cunobelin Posts: 11,792
    LIcensing is not the only answer - and it isn't working for existing vehicle groups so there is no point in extending a system that doesn't work.

    A case in point - outside an inffant school in Portsmouth today:

    IMAGE_036.jpg

    Parked blocking the pavement and access....

    Now of course if there was a requirement for training ans a test then this wouldn't happen....

    IMAGE_039.jpg

    ... and if there was a requirement for a licence for the vehicle it would also prevent this:

    IMAGE_038.jpg


    Then of course if there was further licensing for instance for the "self styled professionals" such as Taxis there would also be no problems with illegal and dangerous driving - would there?

    DSC00042-1.jpg


    As I said earlier -the system needs to be sorted and functioning in th present groups before extending to others.
    <b><i>He that buys land buys many stones.
    He that buys flesh buys many bones.
    He that buys eggs buys many shells,
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  • chuckcork
    chuckcork Posts: 1,471
    Double yellow lines and a cycle lane.

    Perhaps these photos should be forwarded to you local council and the local police, with photo of taxi cc'd to the operator?
    'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze....
  • Second that.
  • Cunobelin
    Cunobelin Posts: 11,792
    chuckcork wrote:
    Double yellow lines and a cycle lane.

    Perhaps these photos should be forwarded to you local council and the local police, with photo of taxi cc'd to the operator?

    Police can't deal with as parking is "decriminalised"
    Parking can't deal with as they are never on the pavement when the wardens are around.
    Licensing Office feels that the other two bodies should deal...


    Followed by a complaint of breach of licence conditions as vehicle is also within pedestrian crossing and therefore being operated in an "Unsafe and illegal manner" Licensing Office will not act as they feel such parking is "not unsafe", or a threat to pedestrians or cyclists!

    Presently going to Complaints procedure and Ombudsman!
    <b><i>He that buys land buys many stones.
    He that buys flesh buys many bones.
    He that buys eggs buys many shells,
    But he that buys good beer buys nothing else.</b></i>
    (Unattributed Trad.)
  • Bugly
    Bugly Posts: 520
    Quote "education testing and enforcement would all help reduce the road toll. "


    That applies to all road users.

    Never had a UK license but here if you have a license you dont get retested unless you lose it for some reason. Only other time I undertook a drivers test was when I moved to canada.

    I am not too confident that I would pass with flying colours if I had to sit a drivers license today. I am in favour of continious testing and licensing. Only thing is it would be hard to get cyclists that fail to stay off the road ( as it is keeping unlicenced car drivers off the road)
  • The only other thing that I could think of would be that this would have to encompass all bike users, from children to professional riders. This would be a mountain of work for the licensing body to get through and I'm sure it would deter some people from using their bikes, as well as being a logistical nightmare to set up.

    I remember reading a while back that the idea of having number plates on bikes was being suggested. This could have a number of benefits for everyday cyclists. These would have to be registered somewhere and would be registered to a bikes frame number in a similar way to a cars chassis number. This would be great for someone who had their bike stolen, but hadn't bothered to note the frame number. It would also make bikes a lot easier to reunite with owners when the police do actually find some.
    It would probably stop Red Light Jumping which is possibly one of the main underlying causes of antagonism between the four-wheeled folk and the two-wheeled.
    There are also possible downsides, depending how you behave, people could note down your numberplate and you would no longer be anonymous, but a level playing field could be good for all involved.

    Cycling is a pretty much law free past-time, and the majority of the time it is just common sense. Don't cycle on the pavement, the road is quicker. Have lights on at night etc etc. A bit more regulation could in fact benefit everyone.

    I would not be happy to pay for a license to ride my bike. But, if it was a case of turning up for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon once every 10 years or so, I personally wouldn't mind.

    I also believe though that Cycling Profficiency should be a compulsory thing at school. Children are very vulnerable and even if they carry one thing that they learnt through life, it should hopefully make a difference.

    I don't support either numberplates or licenses at the moment. I think that a lot more work needs to go into the ideas to make them viable and acceptable.

    I realise that through a lot of this I have just let myself in for a bit of a kicking, so I'm going to grab my coat and run for the door...
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  • Cunobelin
    Cunobelin Posts: 11,792

    I realise that through a lot of this I have just let myself in for a bit of a kicking, so I'm going to grab my coat and run for the door...

    ................or a helmet?

    :wink:
    <b><i>He that buys land buys many stones.
    He that buys flesh buys many bones.
    He that buys eggs buys many shells,
    But he that buys good beer buys nothing else.</b></i>
    (Unattributed Trad.)