Vancouver mayor candidate wants bikes to have insurance
 

While I don’t think this guy has a chance in hell of getting elected, interested that this is something he is pushing.

Candidate for mayor pushes for licensed, insured cyclists - News1130

I believe that bikes in the downtown core and other busy high traffic areas should be licensed and registered and only ridden if insured. It will be interesting if he actually gets into how he expects to implement this. I’m happy someone is finally bringing this idea to the front.

Rs vote meet?
Posted via RS Mobile

He's got my vote.

That's interesting and I'd like to see where it goes. I wonder how much it would cost. I would support that- to protect my car, and my bike, even though I have only ridden downtown a few times it would be nice to have that insurance.

well well well didn't i predicted this shit couple weeks ago... let see...ahhh here it is.

http://www.revscene.net/forums/65530...ml#post7602289

so we'll be seeing breathing the city air tax soon:troll:

http://www.revscene.net/forums/65530...ml#post7601648

Best news I have heard in ages. It's about time they decided to do this!!

There are plenty of people here who have spoken up about this before, myself included.

Watching the way cyclists ride, especially in dense traffic areas, it only seems logical to have them insured and licensed. Both to protect them, and other vehicles and pedestrians.

I’ve never understood why the idea gets so much resistance. Licensing bike riders would make them safer and held accountable for their actions, just like any other vehicle driver. I believe it would also give them more “respect” as “real” road vehicles from other drivers, and in turn make it safer for them to ride on the roads.

That respect only comes when they follow the rules of the road though. Forcing them to be identifiable and accountable would weed out the idiots who ride dangerously because its currently anonymous.

they wanna be treated as a car / share the road then they should be treated as such in EVERY way

Mayor Moonbeam finally put down the pipe and did something decent.

Lol good luck with that. I support it but I am sure it won't go through. You will see all these ppl from critical mass go portest against it.

i suggested this in the critical mass thread before. if bikes are legally considered vehicles, they should have to pay insurance just like we do. plus, this way they can be held accountable for their dangerous, law-breaking actions!

I totally support this idea but unfortunately I doubt he'll garner enough votes to make a difference in the election, so I'll most likely throw my vote behind Anton to attempt to get rid of that human fecal matter known as Gregor.

i think the guy will get a lot of votes if he talks about Critical Mass during his campaign :D:D:D:D

i support this. its time for cyclist learn how to "share the road"

Obviously it should be this way..

I find it BS that I need insurance to ride my dirt bike on logging roads and trails that aren't even accessible to vehicles, and by not having insurance I'm subject to a $340 fine, yet bikes ON THE ROAD don't? BS
Posted via RS Mobile

Fucking cyclist who still proceeds forward at red lights
Posted via RS Mobile

Not only that.. I hate it when they take over the road when next to it is an empty sidewalk they don't use, backing up all traffic during rush hour.

Clearly these bikers need to learn the rules of the road. We dont use translink and we pay for it so why shouldn't they? Of course enforcement would mostly be thru the downtown corridors and "bike lanes" but then people dont use them to begin with.... haha.

Its going to be tough to actually pass this through
I agree that insurance is a great way to curb idiots

but what are the costs to implement these?
Unless this hits the provincial level, i can't seeing it being more than just an idea

I bet ICBC is rubbing their hands together at the thought of more $$

Gerry McGuire :troll:

does the sea wall count as downtown?
because needing a license/insurance to ride that would be pretty annoying... And a waste of money for people that only ride the sea wall a few times a year like I do...

If it were up to me, depends how you get there. If you drive, then no, since you already pay for the road. If you bike to the seawall using roads, then yes.

Maybe people who have car insurance get a deal on bike insurance. And you only require to provide proof of bike insurance when travelling on public roads.

Moral of the story, why should bikers ride for free, not follow the rules, AND drivers get stuck with the bill.

I'd love to drive by a biker who got pulled over by the cops because he received a ticket.
Posted via RS Mobile

OK...this is stupid.

Cars have insurance to cover the costs associated with accidents, theft and other car related matters.

Until such time as bikes have a huge replacement cost caused by rear-ending another bike, this is a stupid cash grab.

You can have bike theft cost covered through home insurance( I think-I never inquired).

Now, if you want to talk about licensing, that's a different story. If you want a group of people that use a vehicle, on the public roads to actually know how to use a road-I can see the logic.

BUT...I want to the governments to get out of the job of regulating every piece of my life, so I would not support this. There is enough bureaucracy as it is.

The candidate is clueless.

The mayor of Vancouver is not the head of ICBC, if he were elected, which won't happen, nothing would change. ICBC will not insure cyclists now or ever, the cost of implementing and operating the program would almost definitely exceed the annual revenue generated by it, and it will drive cyclists off the road which is counter productive to the objectives of Translink and the majority of greater Vancouver mayors. Not to mention that it would be almost impossible to define what streets require a license and which ones do not, if someone has a reasonable suggestion on how that could be done please tell me.

I support the concept of licensing cyclists, but I realize it's not practical.