Not To Be Out-Done

A hit-and-run bicyclist in San Diego struck a nine-year-old girl, breaking her leg. Piker. Heck, he hit her in a parking lot.

In Portland, a bicyclist riding on the sidewalk hit a 68-year-old. This gent hit his head on the cement (fortunately causing no apparent damage to the sidewalk) and was knocked unconscious. All in all, the incident cost $30,000.

Now,that's how you do it! This is why bicycles should be licensed, register, and tagged.

Comments

[Maxie]

1) What would registration accomplish? Studies have shown that a bike registration program would cost more to administer than it would gain in fees. That's why several jurisdictions across the country are actually eliminating bike registration.

2) I suggest that we focus resources towards those who are causing the most harm. That would put you squarely in the automobile category - where people are driving multi-thousand pound vehicles at higher speeds and causing ~20 fatalities a year (in the Portland area). In fact these fatalities are so common that they're not even considered news anymore!

Sure one guy was a total idiot and hurt Mr. Blunk and I agree that he should be prosecuted; but automobile drivers are still a MUCH greater risk to public safety.

[Max]

Studies can be tailored to show anything desired, which is very often the case for those related to bicycling. Licensing, tagging, and insurance should be required. Especially the tagging. "I just saw a guy on a blue bike cream a pedestrian" isn't especially helpful, so prosecution is impossible.

2) Are you seriously suggesting that automobile drivers (unlike bicycle riders) are mowing down pedestrians on sidewalks?

Cops can - and do - stop drivers if their rigs don't have plates. Same should apply to cyclists.

BTW: I don't appreciate your attempt to further muddy things by appropriating my name. So I changed yours.

[metro_sucks]

And all these bicycle nazis are crowing about how "cagers" are the only ones who are a danger on the road and so on.

[Max]

Just a few months ago, another cyclist hit a kid on the sidewalk at Rose Garden, nearly killing him (handlebar to the neck) and pedaled merrily off. I suspect we don't see a lot of the incidents because reporting on them is politically incorrect.

[Ian Random]

Who cares about the cost, I personally would love to spread the warm loving embrace of the government to a largely unregulated sector. Funny, how liberals flock to unregulated sectors (internet) and then berate highly regulated ones (oil).

[Max]

Good for the goose, good for the gander, and all that.

[The Real Max]

So tell me about all of the bicycle caused fatalities. I only seem to see statistics on auto-caused fatalities, which happen roughly every 2 weeks.

Or are you suggesting we should focus safety dollars on that which is not causing the most harm?

Regarding bicycle licensing:
You haven't stated what the expected benefit would be.

The reason why we have driver licenses is because improperly operating a car can (and does) kill people. I don't see that currently happening with people operating bikes. Most people on bikes already have driver licenses anyway.

The fact is that lots of governments that have had bike licensing for many years have eliminated it (Long Beach (2/2011), Los Angeles (6/2009), San Jose (1/2011)) because it was expensive to maintain and served no purpose. What would Portland do that would differentiate it from these cities?

Finally, Max has been my name since birth -- which long predates your blog (and the rest of the Internet), TriMet's MAX, etc. Perhaps you have muddied my name with your blog. haha. ;-)

[Max]

It would be beneficial if you tried reading for comprehension rather than willfully misinterpreting my position; I have referred to no fatalities, merely serious injuries. As noted previously, a police report consisting of "Hey, I just saw a guy on a blue bicycle cream a pedestrian" is of no value; a license plate gives police and insurers something to work with.

I've provided several examples of cyclists causing severe injury, and doing so by mowing down pedestrians when riding their bikes on sidewalks. I have suggested that cars, trucks, motorcycles typically do not drive down sidewalks.

Moreover, with the growth of bicycle rental shops in the Portland area, tagging of bikes may well be commercially desirable.