How about taxing bicycles!

[Ameer]

So crazy, read it here:
TRENTON — If an Essex County lawmaker has her way, every single bicycle in the state of New Jersey will soon have to have a license plate.

"Riding bikes is not a right, it is a privilege."

Will they make them display a front plate too?

[dave_in_austin]

The bike guys have this saying "Share the Road". It only seems fair we share the expense.

That seems fair to me. Lets calculate what the cost should be. I pay about $50 per year for the registration tax on my truck. Lets say that road wear is in some vague way proportional to a combination of vehicle weight and miles spent on the road. For my truck, that is about 4000 lbs and 15,000 miles per year for 60,000,000 mile pounds per year. My bike weighs 25 lbs and is on the road about 6000 mile per year for 150,000 mile pounds per year. This gives a wear ratio of bike to truck of about 0.0025 so the fair annual tax on the bike should be about 12.5 cents. I do not think that fee will cover the cost of collecting it. There are of course, other ways to figure the fair cost for a bicycle, but I think that any calculation that has a reasonably realistic representation of the public cost of having a bike use the public roadway will come up with a number that is not worth collecting.

[KD5NRH]

There are of course, other ways to figure the fair cost for a bicycle, but I think that any calculation that has a reasonably realistic representation of the public cost of having a bike use the public roadway will come up with a number that is not worth collecting.

That has been the ultimate reason given in all of the places that have stopped mandatory bike registration.

[Bart]

What's so crazy about requiring a license plate for all vehicles operated on public roads?

How else are the red light cameras supposed to give them tickets?

[MeMelYup]

1st they license the bicycle. 2nd they require you to have no fault insurance. 3rd anyone over 6 years old must have a riders license to ride on streets or roads.
I new a guy that received a ticket for speeding (doing 37 in a 25 zone) on a bicycle. The judge threw it out with the warning not to appear in his court again.

[i8godzilla]

I am guessing now she is worried about reelection:

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/0 ... posed.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
TRENTON — Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker (D-Essex) has withdrawn her proposal for a bill that would have required bicycles to be registered.

[KD5NRH]

1st they license the bicycle. 2nd they require you to have no fault insurance. 3rd anyone over 6 years old must have a riders license to ride on streets or roads.
I new a guy that received a ticket for speeding (doing 37 in a 25 zone) on a bicycle. The judge threw it out with the warning not to appear in his court again.

I once noticed that traffic wasn't passing me at all on a divided 4-lane as I was heading home in the morning rush. Fortunately, the cop wasn't bored enough to give me a ticket for 23 in a 20 school zone on a bicycle.

[Barbi Q]

What about a Vespa? It doesn't cause much more wear and tear on the road than some of those mountain bikes, and with a rider on both they take up about the same room.