The following letter suggests a registration fee on cyclists. It is the bicycle that gets registered not the cyclist. People get a licence. Money collected through registrations and licences pay for administration and insurance, not for roads and paths. The task of registering bicycles throughout the state would cost more than what would be collected thus being another cost to the taxpayer. BICYCLE REGISTRATION
FOR AND AGAINST:
FOR:
"Cyclists should pay - I have a concern about cyclists. A cyclist doesn't pay any registration. Why can't the government put a registration fee on cyclists and use this money solely to build bike tracks? This would take them off the roads."
E. Rogers, Holland Park. RACQ Road Ahead magazine, June/July 2001, Page 24, feature YOU SAID IT!I was amazed that the RACQ still publishes letters about bicycle registration and getting people who ride bicycles off the road. This letter is typical of the attitude of many motorists who will not "share the road", the Queensland Government's road safety slogan. So I wrote an equivalent letter about motorists - just for fun.
AGAINST:
"Cyclists should not pay - I have a concern about motorists. A motorist doesn't pay enough registration. Why can't the government increase the registration fee on motor vehicles and use this money solely to build bike lanes? This would put cyclists back on the roads." L. Evans, Earlville.
Motor Vehicles are registered and people are licenced for a lot of reasons, especially because motor vehicles cause damage to property and kill and injure people. If people who ride bicycles are seen to be at risk, then the perpetrators of this risk, the drivers of motor vehicles should pay for the solutions not the riders of bicycles.
Apart from the registration issue, there is concern about the attitude that some motorists have towards people riding bicycles and their ignorance of the law. By law, cyclists are drivers (riders) of vehicles (bicycles) and the only roads they cannot legally ride on are a few motorways in the big cities.
We need to acknowledge that most people who drive motor vehicles have owned or presently own a bicycle. All people who drive motor vehicles are pedestrians. Many people who drive motor vehicles are people with disabilities and the elderly. Roads are for the passage of people to travel by whatever mode they choose - motor vehicle, public transport, bicycle, tricycle, walking/running, pram, wheelchair, etc.
SOLUTION:
In the same edition of the RACQ magazine, Road Ahead June/July 2001, it was reported that narrow rough roads and bad shoulders are motorist's most hated road conditions. The solution is to WIDEN OUR ROADS. Road shoulders provide a bike lane, preserve the traffic lane, reduce maintenance costs, reduce driver stress, reduce accidents and lots more. The costs saved would pay for road shoulders over and over. There is no need to register bicycles, collect money, build bike tracks, take cyclists off the road. Just construct road shoulders so that roads are safe for EVERYONE.
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